I agree with Todd Whitcombe's opinion on electoral reform, although my less-than-academic conclusion is based on the if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it proposition.
To begin, Canada is a huge country with a small population, difficult to govern and even more difficult to find an electoral system accurately reflecting a coast-to-coast-to-coast national consensus. Yet we muddle through and never fail to keep our politicians mindful of our collective and representative opinion.
As an example, in 1984 Brian Mulroney won the largest House of Commons majority in Canadian history.
Nine years later his former Progressive Conservative Party was reduced to two seats. The Liberal party governed for another 13 years then was consigned to a third-place, nine-year stretch in the opposition benches.
During all of this, the official opposition role has been held by the Bloc Quebecois, the Reform Party and the NDP. Is that not representative? We may not have a mathematically perfect system of counting ballots and assigning seats but the record shows our electoral process sure knows how to shake things up.
And at the end of the day that's all that really matters.
Bruce Strachan
Vernon
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