Democracy in Crisis: how legitimate is a majority government that doesn’t have the consent of the majority of voters?

democracy in crisis 57 percent did not vote in Ontario election 2022

Ontarians woke up to a democracy divorced from reality last week as First Past the Post rewarded Doug Ford with a majority government despite the PCs only obtaining 40% of the vote. With progressive parties – OLP, ONDP and GPO – receiving 54% of the vote divided between them, it would seem Ontario’s democratic majority was once again denied its right to govern.

Making the situation even more dire, however, was the historically low voter turnout of 43%, meaning Ford was handed a majority government by a meager 18% of eligible voters.

These numbers spell a crisis for our democracy. After all, how legitimate is a majority government that does not have the consent of the majority of voters?

And how legitimate is the system that creates such a government? This isn’t the first time First Past the Post has distorted election results in the province and it won’t be the last. Until we switch to a system based on Proportional Representation, Ontarians will always be at risk of electing a government that denies the province the policies a majority of its people voted for.

In short: if democracy is majority rule, why is the minority ruling?


Ontario votes 2022 how we voted (popular vote) vs what we got (seats)

PCs form “majority” government with 40.84% of the vote: Ontario voters cheated by first-past-the-post

The election results were a gross misrepresentation of what voters said with their ballots:

  • The PCs got a landslide majority with just 40.84% of the vote. They won a whopping 83 seats―that’s 7 more seats than 2018 with only 0.33 points more of the popular vote.
  • The Liberal Party earned more of the popular vote than the NDP―23.85% vs 23.73%―but the NDP’s voters elected 31 MPPs and Liberal voters only elected 8.
  • Greens increased their popular vote share from 4.6% in 2018 to 5.96% but still elected only one MPP (Mike Schreiner) to represent the 279,265 people who voted Green in Ontario.
  • 54% of voters – 2,531,087 – cast wasted votes that elected no-one.

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May 2022 MPs speak up for proportional representation

MPs speak up for proportional representation in the House of Commons

On Monday May 16, multiple MPs spoke up for proportional representation and a National Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform in the House of Commons. MPs speaking up included Kitchener Centre Green MP Mike Morrice, North Island—Powell River NDP MP Rachel Blaney, Vancouver East NDP MP Jenny Kwan, and several others!

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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:


fair vote toronto proportional representation electoral reform canada volunteer rendezvous

Thank you to all the volunteers who helped deliver 30,000 door hangers across the Greater Toronto Area this past month! Across Ontario, Fair Vote Canada was able to deliver a whopping total of over 110,000 door hangers this election!

fair vote canada volunteer door hanger campaign