TORONTO – Democracy: The rule by the people, for the people – a most prized structure that we maintain is a fundamental principle of our national ethic; it is who we are. The “majority rules”, we say. That principle is the panacea for all socio-political ills. Yet we struggle to give it proof with numbers.
Please do not misunderstand or misinterpret what follows as any kind of disdain for those who commit themselves to participation in the political process. He/she who enters the melee, regardless of the partisan position they advocate, deserves regard, if not thanks. But that should not prevent us from examining outcomes of tests to the “system” with a critical eye looking for improvement in structure as well as in policies that may guide it.
The Ontario provincial election held last February 27 may be a case in point. Did it, in fact, produce an outcome reflective of a true picture of where the province (and its citizenry) sees itself going? Does it provide an “accurate photo” of what we might should be addressing?
Let’s start with the non-controversial data. According to second quarter statistics by the World population Review, 2024, there were 15,996,989 citizens resident in Ontario. Of these, 11,065,813 (or 69.17%) registered as being eligible to vote by virtue of age and/or citizenship. So says our electoral commission, Elections Ontario.
The election took place in an environment where the issue(s) covered by the mainstream media and press concentrated on “leadership” at the international level and potential fallout for Canada and Ontario in that “existential” struggle. Fair enough, when Justin Trudeau called it quits, the country was left with a lame Federal Government and [jurisdictionally] ill-equipped, if not questionable, provincial replacements. Two of those premiers, from Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador, following a humiliating photo-op in Washington, where a gaggle of “team Canada” premiers substituting for a non-existent federal government, announced their retirement..
Notwithstanding their desire to jump into the breach in the absence of any Prime Minister, as if the provinces had now jurisdictional clout. Home in Ontario, Premier Ford, whose province has the most to lose in an existential fight that has yet to begin, put on a brave front.
Unfortunately, Elections Ontario reports that only 45.40% (5,023,879 citizens) of the registered voters felt the need to exercise their vote. Of those, 2,158,452 cast it for the governing party, giving it majority status in the Legislature. Ford’s party was rewarded with 80 seats in the Provincial Parliament – a majority but oddly supported by only 19.5% of eligible voters. Equally difficult to explain is how, of the other two main opposition parties, the one with 1,504,688 votes received 14 seats in the Legislature, while the one with only 931,796 votes received 27 seats.
If nothing else is clear, we (the electorate) do not seem to believe in the concept of a democracy that is associated with representation by population. Ontario is not alone in this quizzical democratic environment. Prince Edward Island in Canada, despite its population of approximately 170,000 people, is guaranteed four seats in the House of Commons – no matter how many people vote.
Ah well, as Winston Churchill said: democracy may not the best form of government – but the others are much worse. Those who lost the election should stop crying in their beer.