Support has increased with voters of all parties but most dramatically among Conservatives. In 2016, twice as many Conservatives opposed PR as supported it; now two and a half times as many support it. The fact their party got more votes than the Liberals but Justin Trudeau remains prime minister while they continue to languish in opposition has apparently changed a lot of minds. Liberal voters showed the least increase and are now the least supportive.
NDP and Green voters remain solidly in favour. And so we might expect. The NDP got twice as many votes as the Bloc but fewer seats. The Bloc got only 18 percent more votes than the Greens but ten times as many seats. The Bloc was rewarded for contesting seats only in Quebec while the NDP and the Greens were punished for contesting seats across the country. Thus is regionalism exaggerated, exactly what our highly regionalized country doesn't need.
Support for PR is also strong in all areas of the country. The Prairie Provinces, most opposed to PR in 2016 are now the most supportive. These Conservative voters no doubt noted that the Liberals won almost half the seats in the House with only a third of the vote.
2016 surveys found a lot of "don't knows" or "don't cares." The new survey shows broad, enthusiastic support. Prime Minister Trudeau justified the betrayal of his promise last time arguing there was no consensus for change. He can no longer credibly make that argument. So all you supporters of PR, get out your pens and let him know.
4 comments:
Are Canadians awakening, Bill? We now show at least some degree of awareness that there is much that can be and must be done on climate change. Are we now sensing that our democracy, or at least what remains of it, is in serious need of rehabilitation.
Could America be providing an object lesson? The US once was a democracy but that was killed off years ago. The 2014 study out of Princeton by Gilens and Page convincingly demonstrates that America morphed from democracy to plutocracy years ago. A "bought and paid for" Congress led to widespread "regulatory capture" to the election of a grifter to a politically stacked USSC.
BTW, before you wrote your book did you have a chance to watch Patrick Watson's series on "democracy"? I think he produced it in the 70s but it was terrific. He focused on how democracy means quite different things to different peoples based on a mix of ethnic, religious and economic interests and history.
I think the realization that if we had PR in Ontario, Doug Ford would not be Premier is also having an impact.
Although folks feeling blackmailed into voting Liberal when they didn't want to is wearing thin too.
I do remember Watson's series—vaguely. That was a long time ago, Mound, but yes, I remember it as being very good. I'm also familiar with Gilens and Page's work. Unfortunately, U.S. democracy is handicapped by a Supreme Court that can't distinguish speech from money.
You may have a point, Gyor. According to the Angus Reid survey, after the Prairies, Ontario showed the largest increase in support for PR.
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