When I look at our system, beyond gender representation, which I think is a huge issue, and perhaps the representation of other minority groups that are currently disadvantaged and under-represented in our Parliament, when I look over time, I think one of the most troubling things is when we have parliamentary caucuses, particularly on the government side, that don't have representation from particular regions of the country. The Conservative government of Mr. Clark had essentially no one from Quebec, no voices at the cabinet table unless you went through the gymnastics of appointing someone to the Senate. I think that's highly troubling with our system.
When I think about possible alternatives, there is what is sometimes called a parallel system or a non-compensatory system whereby you would have another hundred MPs who would be elected from the regions on some kind of party list, so if the Liberals got 10% of the votes in Alberta, they'd get a few MPs. It wouldn't change things dramatically because it wouldn't be compensatory in the sense that if you did that, all the parties would get a share of those seats and you could still get a majority government. It likely wouldn't affect who ultimately would govern and you could still have a single-party majority government.
To my mind, that's one of the real shortcomings of our system, but of course, it has to be balanced against other things.
It was mentioned earlier that one of the disadvantages of our system is that it favours regional parties. I'm not sure this is a disadvantage. I'm not sure it's at all a bad thing. When there was western alienation in the 1980s and 1990s, our system allowed the Reform Party to have some success and for that voice to be heard inside our Parliament. I'm not sure it's a bad thing if 40% of Quebeckers who are frustrated with this fragile system want to vote for the Bloc Québécois. Our system gives them a voice and the ability to do that.
First past the post isn't the only system that would allow that. Others might as well. People will often point to that as a negative of our system. I'm not quite clear this is the case.