One good reason to vote NDP in 2015

Perhaps Leonard Cohen has something to say to those Canadians who look with dismay upon our broken, undemocratic, first past the post electoral system, and wonder that a man who is not supported by more than 60% of those who voted can do the things he is now doing with such impunity.

In Bird on the Wire, Cohen says:

I saw a beggar leaning on his wooden crutch,
he said to me, "You must not ask for so much."
And a pretty woman leaning in her darkened door,
she cried to me, "Hey, why not ask for more?"

Perhaps it is time for all of the 60% who did not vote for Harper's party to ask for more.

And perhaps we ought to take a long, hard look at our party leaders to see if they are up to what we need.

This is what Tom Mulcair said about electoral reform:

Fair Vote Canada (FVC) congratulates Thomas Mulcair, a proponent of proportional representation, on winning the leadership of the federal New Democratic Party.

“The majority of Canadians (68%) want electoral reform, so we all benefit when a leader is chosen who has made a commitment to bring a fair and proportional voting system to Canada” says Fair Vote Canada president Shoni Field.

Mulcair has said that moving to a mixed-member proportional system will be a fundamental plank of the New Democratic Party’s platform next election: “Canadians are well aware of the pitfalls of our electoral system. They agree with us that change is needed. When we get elected, we will get elected with a strong mandate to address those shortcomings. If needed, we will cooperate with other parties in the House of Commons and the Senate in order to make electoral reform a reality.”

Now that is a serious commitment from the new leader of the NDP to work with the Green and Liberal Parties after the next election to bring about electoral reform through a mixed-member proportional system of voting.

The remedying of our democratic deficit might be on the horizon.

Now let's elect a Liberal Party new leader who commits to doing the same. If the chosen one does not, let's seriously consider our alternatives come our 2014 policy convention and 2015 (or – more likely – earlier) election.

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