MMP for Canada?

Should Jack Layton's New Democrats ( left wing ) hold the balance of power after January 23rd election night in Canada, the price for its support is sure to include a move to a new voting system - one that could give Canadians a steady string of minority governments. It is possible that if that is the case Canda could be moving closer to MMP.....

In an interview with The Canadian Press, Layton's eyes shone at the prospect of moving the country towards a voting system of proportional representation. That was key party issue in the 2004 campaign, but was pushed aside when the NDP came up two seats short of holding a real balance of power in the last Parliament.

"I don't want to be two votes short," again, Layton said recently.

"I want us to have the ability to achieve what we came here to do. . .and proportional representation will be a big part of any discussion."

Proportional representation is a type of voting system that gives parties seats in proportion to their total national vote count.

That would help the NDP, which tends to win larger numbers of votes across the country than its relatively small number of seats in the Commons reflects.

But in more evenly distributing seat numbers among political parties, the system - which has about 300 variations - may prevent any one party from forming a majority.

This is an interesting thought provoking subject...

Is NZ better off with MMP or not? Look at the troubles Canada is having with it's politics....Maybe MMP would be best for Canada?


Jack Layton... NDP Leader.