More evidence minority government OK

More evidence that minority government OK with voters (January 28, 2008)

Yet another poll shows that Canadians are increasingly comfortable with minority government, which is good news for proponents of fair voting systems.

According to a Canadian Press Harris-Decima telephone poll, conducted during the third week of January, more people would find acceptable either a Conservative or Liberal minority government than a majority government by either party:

-  54% said a Conservative minority would be acceptable, while 49% said the same for a Conservative majority government.

-  59% said a Liberal minority would be acceptable, compared to 50% who said the same for a Liberal majority.

“The experience of the past several years has had an effect on voters’ thinking,” said Larry Gordon, Executive Director, Fair Vote Canada. “While Canadians have been used to one party wielding majority power, it appears the benefits of forcing parties to negotiate and compromise are now more apparent. Obviously, with fair voting systems and fair election outcomes, a single party would seldom gain majority control because seldom does a single party win a majority of votes.”

Electoral reformers also note that coalitions and minority governments formed through fair and proportional voting systems would be very stable, unlike those minority governments formed under first-past-the-post.

“Once parties understand they will never gain complete control of the government, then the political culture changes,” said Gordon. “The parties can only advance their agendas through negotiation and compromise. They can no longer hope to gain a windfall of undeserved seats by forcing a needless election.”