India. Within the last couple of months I was over at Westminster in the United Kingdom. The last time I looked, they do not use proportional representation. Some British members of parliament and I discussed the issue when I was over there. Notwithstanding that the party in power had held out the possibility of increased proportional representation, I did detect a drawing back from that in the British House of Commons. They were looking at it carefully, and it is not everything that its advocates make it out to be. There are some pluses, to be sure, and there are minuses.
While all of these systems are called proportional representation, they often vary enormously and use different approaches, such as the following.
Some have preferential ballots where voters rank candidates in order of preference, with votes for low-polling candidates being transferred to the remaining candidates, according to voter preference.
There are pure proportional representation systems where the entire country is treated as one constituency, with members being selected from party lists based on the percentage of the popular vote received by the parties.
There are mixed systems where some members are chosen on the basis of first past the post, while others are chosen from party lists.
While proponents of the system claim it leads to better representation, particularly of minorities, minority interests and regions, with a higher voter turnout, the experience of those countries currently using proportional representation suggests that there may be some potential negative impacts as well.
For example, it could lead to a splintering of political interests in parties and therefore lead to more minority governments. It could make governing more difficult. It could increase political instability. It could force parties to engage in lengthy political deal-making in order to cobble together coalitions involving very different interests.
Some will say that process is actually quite democratic and representative but there are two sides to the coin and there is more than one view of this. As well, small one issue parties can sometimes find themselves in the position of being kingmaker which may allow them to force their own narrow agendas onto the nation as a whole.
Proportional representation sometimes can give a voice to extremist groups who would have been shut out in a first past the post system. Examples of such situations can easily come to mind.
Some countries have also found that proportional representation can exacerbate regional differences and cleavages within a society and can make it more difficult to reach a national consensus on some important issues. That is an important issue for a country as vast and as regionally segmented as Canada is.
Other countries have found that the use of party lists in selecting members of legislatures can strengthen the power of those party insiders responsible for deciding who will be on the list and in what order of precedence. I also as a member of parliament representing a constituency am curious as to what the balance would be, for example if I would continue to represent a constituency but those selected from a party list would not have that responsibility at all. They would not have the constituency responsibility, something to which all members of the House pay considerable attention and devote considerable resources.
These are just a few of the issues, some say problems, that we would encounter in moving toward a system of proportional representation. There are some other problems that might be specific to Canada. We have benefited in the past from an electoral system that allows for the diversity of our peoples to be drawn together in a parliament where there is a reasonable likelihood of a majority government. Minority governments might not so easily maintain our focus and our unity.
In addition it could under certain models involve a change. These changes could involve changes to our constitution, and this is a particular policy envelope that I am not convinced Canadians would want to open at this particular time. A referendum on the issue could also prove divisive judging from recent past experience.
Finally, one of the strengths of our electoral system is that Canadians are represented at the constituency level by members of parliament. All of us here do represent constituencies and that is a real strength for the House, something that might be—I am not saying would be lost—but could be lost if we are selecting MPs simply from party lists without reference to particular constituencies.
For these reasons, I am not inclined to support the motion in its whole. However, if there is a broad interest among members to pursue the issue of proportional representation, and I know there are members on both sides of the House who do have a real interest in this, the House could ask a committee of the House to look at this. I suggest the Standing Committee for Procedure and House Affairs as one possibility.
Members of that committee discussed the issue in the course of their 1998 review of electoral issues. There may be merit in further study. Such a review would provide us with information on the strengths and weaknesses of proportional representation, in international experience and the implications it could have in the Canadian context.
I want to sincerely commend the hon. member for Regina—Qu'Appelle for his commitment to improving Canada's electoral system and for bringing this important issue to the House. I do not know what members will do with the issue in terms of the actual motion. I am certain that somewhere in the future there is a further study envelope of proportional representation to see how it might be adapted or used in Canada, and if there is a substantial consensus that would develop to do that in the House.