Proportional Representation — Why Not?

Our current system of electing members of Parliament—and through them governments—is clearly unsatisfactory. In each riding the candidate receiving the most votes is the winner, and in most cases the winner has the support of less than half the voters. The system is known as First-Past-the-Post, although why is unclear as there is no post to pass in the counting. What is clear is that it is undemocratic: the outcomes are usually far removed from the voters’ inputs. In this case, familiarity breeds not contempt, which it should, but passive acceptance of what should be unacceptable. We are encouraged in this complacency by the argument that while FPTP may be unfair, it is better than the alternatives because it produces stable majority governments with support from all or most regions, able to deliver on their promises by driving their program through Parliament. But history does not support this defence of the indefensible. It is true that we have just emerged from 24 years...