(OTTAWA) – Elizabeth May, Leader of the Green Party of Canada (MP, Saanich-Gulf Islands), released the following statement following yesterday's release of the mydemocracy.ca report:
“Yesterday's silent release of the results of the mydemocracy.ca survey is deeply discouraging. While the report claims general satisfaction with our democracy in its executive summary, it is unable to conclude the same about our electoral system - because it never asked the question. And while the executive summary reports general satisfaction (67%) with our democracy, only 17% of Canadians surveyed reported being ‘very satisfied’, with the remaining 50% merely ’somewhat satisfied.’ In fact, nearly 20% of those polled included 'Don’t like the voting system’ as one of the biggest barriers preventing them from voting.”
“Even the flawed survey makes it clear Canadians do want fair voting and greater cooperation in politics. Making sure 2015 is the last election with First Past the Post and that our parliamentary committee's recommendation for proportional representation is followed will greatly enhance Canadian democracy."
"Canadians polled in the survey expressed a strong desire to see parties work together in Parliament specifically to negotiate policy decisions, even at the expense of clear accountability (Figure 3.1.1). One of the most decisive findings of the report had 70% of those polled preferring several parties sharing accountability for policy outcomes over one party being solely accountable (Figure 3.1.3)."
"There was also demonstrable support for key attributes of PR systems. 62% of Canadians strongly or somewhat agreed that parties governing together is preferable to majorities that govern alone, even at the expense of lengthier decision-making (Figure 3.4.1). 68% of Canadians strongly or somewhat agreed that parties who win the most seats still need to compromise with other parties, even to the extent of reconsidering their policies (3.4.2). And an overwhelming 70% directly prefer that several parties have to collectively agree before a decision is made rather than one party doing all the decision making on its own (Figure 3.4.3)."
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For additional information or to arrange an interview, contact:
Dan Palmer
Press Secretary | Attaché de presse
dan.palmer@greenparty.ca
m: (613) 614-4916