Each June, Canadians come together to celebrate Pride Month, an international celebration of the progress the 2SLGBTQ+ community (Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning and additional sexual orientations and gender identities) has made towards achieving equality, and to fight for progress not yet made.
While Pride Month directly commemorates the Stonewall riots (which began in the early hours of June 28, 1969, after police raided the Stonewall Inn bar in New York City’s Greenwich Village neighbourhood), it also acts as a time for Canadians to reflect on the rich and conflicted history our country has regarding 2SLGBTQ+ rights. For instance, Canada only decriminalized homosexual acts between consenting adults on June 27, 1969 (one day before the Stonewall Riots took place in New York).
Pride Month is also dedicated to uplifting and amplifying 2SLGBTQ+ voices, something our country’s electoral system – First Past the Post – is not very good at. While the 2021 federal election did deliver a record number of 2SLGBTQ+ MPs to parliament (eight in total — three Liberals, two NDP and two Conservatives), this proportionally amounts to only half the estimated 2SLGBTQ+ population nation-wide. Taking everything into account, could a switch to Proportional Representation increase the number of 2SLGBTQ+ MPs in parliament? Dennis Pilon, Associate Professor in the Department of Politics at York University believes so.
“Diverse representation in Canada fits the pattern for countries using single-member majoritarian voting systems [First Past the Post] in that advances for all [minority] groups have been slower and more uneven than in countries where proportional systems are the norm,” Pilon wrote in an article in ‘Queering Representation: LGBTQ People and Electoral Politics in Canada‘. “So, the short answer to the question of whether a different voting system might advance 2SLGBTQ+ representation in Canada would appear to be yes — if the new system were some form of proportional representation.”
This is in part due to the use of multi-member districts and quotas in proportional systems. In short, Proportional Representation (PR) allows for greater democracy as it is more likely to elect a Parliament that looks more like the country it represents. A good reminder that in both politics and our daily lives, representation is everything.
FVT Volunteers Needed at Pride Festival
After a two-year hiatus, Fair Vote Toronto is excited to announce we are back at it, kicking off our summer events with Pride festival weekend!
From Friday June 24th to Sunday June 26th, we’ll have a tent set up along the festival route with volunteers on hand to engage with attendees and help spread the word about Proportional Representation. With the event just a week away, we are looking for volunteers who are interested in working the festival tent with us. No need for a long commitment – a couple hours of your time is all we need!
If you’re interested in volunteering during Pride, please sign up and someone will be in touch ASAP.
We’d like as many volunteers as possible, so feel free to bring a friend! And if you can’t help out but plan to attend the festival, be sure to swing by our table to say hi!
Toronto Star Editorial Board endorses proportional representation
For decades, the Toronto Star has, in their words, “been skeptical of ditching first-past-the-post.” That all changed on June 9th when the Star’s Editorial Board endorsed proportional representation!
“It’s time to put electoral reform — specifically proportional representation — back on the agenda. Ontario Liberals, as they figure out how to get their party out of the ditch it landed in last week, should embrace that idea and stick with it. The NDP and Greens already support PR.”
The Star’s official endorsement of proportional representation today as “the right thing to do” is a win for all of you who have been tireless advocates and supporters of PR.
Poll shows majority support for PR in Ontario
Results of a June 1-2 poll in Ontario show a majority of Liberal, NDP and PC voters support proportional representation (they did not identify other party voters). Across the province, a total of 58% of voters would be happy with proportional representation in provincial elections.
Democratic Reform in the News
Electoral reform has made the headlines after the recent provincial election. Here is a sample of what is being said:
- They said hell couldn’t freeze – Star backs PR
- Ontario election: Did opinion polling discourage residents from voting?
- The Backbench | Does Voting Have To Suck? (podcast)
- Beaverton: Trudeau contracts COVID-19 again: “And this was the week I was gonna do electoral reform, too” (satire)
British Columbia MP Svend Robinson came out as Canada’s first openly gay member of parliament. Robinson publicly announced he was gay during an interview with CBC reporter Barbara Frum.
Robinson was the lone publicly gay MP for another six years, until Quebecois Réal Ménard came out in 1994, followed by B.C. MP Libby Davies who was the first lesbian to come out in 2001.
