Good evening. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to members of this committee.
I'm speaking for myself and my wife. Honestly, you can get her signature afterwards.
It's our belief that first past the post is not working for the majority of Canadian voters—only 40% of them. First past the post is not working for potential voters who choose not to vote because there will be no representation for their views. First past the post is not working when it leads to governance that breeds an us against them mentality, as in majority versus opposition. First past the post is not working when any viewpoint not represented by the two main parties will have little or no influence in the House.
I have friends from Holland and family in New Zealand. They all strongly support proportional representation, especially the way New Zealand has made provision for its aboriginal citizens. I think this could very well apply to our aboriginals as well.
My wife and I strongly support the adoption of proportional representation in the Canadian election process. As to which form of PR it should be, that is possibly not as important at this time, because it should be given the opportunity to be tweaked over a period of time. Canada is a unique place with unique needs, and the rural-urban plan sounds like a good plan to start with.
I believe that mandatory voting would be unnecessary if PR were adopted, because every vote will count and all beliefs will have representation. As a former teacher, I'd like to say that the students who took part in a governance project and voting system where they had consequences for what they did, respected voting. It should start in the school system, although incentives are good. Thank you.