To: Prime Minister Designate Justin Trudeau
End First-Past-The-Post Elections!
Dear Prime Minister Trudeau,
Congratulations on taking this country by storm. Canada was in desperate need of change, and Canadians chose you as the candidate most suited to bring it about.
Throughout your campaign, you made it clear that you wanted 2015 to be the last election run under the First Past the Post system. You spoke of a Preferential Ballot system, and we are asking you to make that a priority as you take office.
Why is this important?
The FPTP system is a hindrance to democracy. For example, a non-Conservative living in a very Conservative-leaning riding essentially has two options: don't vote (thus contributing to voter apathy, which weakens democracy) or move to a place where there are more like-minded people (thus encouraging a more divided society, as we see in the U.S.).
With a Preferential Ballot system, as Trudeau proposed in his campaign, voters rank the candidates (ie: 1, 2, 3, 4) on their ballots, thus accurately reflecting their views. Strategic Voting is never necessary, and candidates are forced to appeal to ALL voters, not just their traditional support base (because it's not enough to just have many #1 votes, you also want to make sure you don't have too many #4s). The alienating 'wedge-tactics' used by Harper would be entirely ineffective in such a system.