Environmental footdragging

Voter frustration with footdragging on the environment -- another symptom of Canada’s electoral dysfunction (December 17, 2007)

Pointing to a landmark study on voting systems and policy outcomes, Fair Vote Canada today said growing public anger with current and former federal governments’ inaction on environmental problems has its roots in Canada’s dysfunctional electoral system.

“A bad electoral system almost guarantees bad politics,” said Stephen Broscoe, President of Fair Vote Canada. “Canadians are increasingly aware our first-past-the-post voting system skews election results. Some parties are given far too many seats, others too few and some are shut out altogether,” said Broscoe. “It’s time to connect the dots on how that affects the daily lives of our families, communities and our environment.”

The urgent need for substantive action on environmental issues has been apparent for the past two decades, yet Canada’s federal governments – both Conservatives and Liberals – have been slow to act, with policies and programs falling far short of public expectations.

Bad voting system guarantees bad politics

Arend Lijphart, a leading international expert on electoral systems, noted two relevant studies in Patterns of Democracy, his landmark comparative assessment of electoral systems in 36 nations.
He cited a 1997 study that measured environmental policy performance through a composite index based on carbon dioxide emissions, fertilizer consumption, and deforestation. On a zero to 100 scale, countries with proportional or fair voting systems scored 10 points higher than those with winner-take-all voting systems.
Lijphart also studied energy efficiency, using the World Bank’s figures for GDP divided by total energy consumption for the years 1990 to 1994. He concluded the correlation between countries using proportional electoral systems and energy efficiency is “extremely strong”, even when controlling for the level of development.

“A fair voting system, in itself, cannot create better environmental management,” said Larry Gordon, Executive Director of Fair Vote Canada. “But what it does create is a truly representative parliament, which better reflects the views of the electorate. Here in Canada, new parties, such as the Greens, would have the seats and voice they deserve in Parliament. Studies have also shown parliaments in proportional voting countries also do a better job of passing legislation that represents majority views. For many years, public support for environmental action has been far ahead of any Canadian government’s willingness to act. When you connect the dots, you can see why the voting system we use really matters to our quality of life, our communities and the environment.”