When it came to changing their electoral system, Ontario voters decided in droves they like things just the way they are.
Voters were overwhelmingly in favour of keeping the current system of first past the post, where the candidate in each riding with the most votes wins, and the party with the most winning candidates forms the government.
Voters were asked for a change via the first referendum since the 1920s in Ontario, and 63.1 per cent (unofficial totals) opposed switching to the mixed member proportional system and voted to keep things as they are.
That left 36.9 per cent in favour of change.
As well, in order to pass, 60 per cent of the ridings also needed to vote in favour of MMP. Instead, 102 of 107 ridings supported the current system.
There were 2,702,547 people who voted in favour of first past the post, while 1,577,391 voted for mixed member proportional.
In the two Wellington County ridings, the results were similar to the province.
In Wellington-Halton Hills, 28,316 (66 per cent) people voted to keep first past the post, while 14,589 (34 per cent) were in favour of a change to the MMP system.
In Perth-Wellington, the numbers were similar. There were 25,480 (67.6) in favour of the current system, and 12,218 (32.4) in favour of change.
Disparity in budgets
Money was not the determining factor in the referendum, either.
The no side, No MMP, had a budget of about $12,000 and volunteers running the campaign.
Joseph Angolano, of Toronto, was the volunteer com-munications director for those opposing the change.
“It’s a good result,” he said in an interview. “It was very decisive. A very clear choice. There’s no mistake about the result.”
Angolano added that the differential in cash to fight the proposal is another good sign that people were decisive in rejecting any electoral change.
Angolano compared his team’s meagre advertising budget to the nearly $500,000 that Fair Vote Canada and its Ontario lobby group poured into advertising, and concluded, “That does say something as well. The yes side spent a lot – but lost – and the no side spent a little – and won.”
Angolano predicted that Ontario, at least, has heard the last of electoral reform for a while.
“The government isn’t going to bring it up again,” he predicted.”
And, he noted, the 60 per cent threshold that MMP needed was met – but by those favouring first past the post.
“First past the post got the threshold. It probably was pretty clear” to the new government.
And, he said, Ontario “can’t be like Quebec” where separatists plan to hold referenda “until they get the result they want. It’s wouldn’t be fair to have another referendum.”
Trying again
Those favouring the switch to MMP are saying just the opposite – and that despite the comparisons to Quebec and the separatists, they have every intention of continuing their efforts to change the electoral system
Larry Gordon is the executive director of Fair Vote Canada, which has been promoting change to the electoral system for several years. For the purposes of the Ontario referendum, Gordon was also the campaign manager promoting the MMP electoral system.
“We’re certainly disappointed that this wasn’t the breakthrough,” he said on Friday morning.
But, he added, that does not mean his group is going away.
“We’re not disheartened; we’re not going to give up.”
And despite the huge loss to the first past the post system, Gordon said the totals are deceiving.
He said there were three types of voters who voted against MMP while not endorsing the status quo for the Ontario electoral system. Those included:
– a small group that fully understood both proposals, and voted to keep the current system;
– a larger group that did not have enough information, and so voted to defeat change; and
– a small group that support electoral reform, but did not support the mixed member proportional system.
“The lack of public information really affected the outcome,” Gordon said, adding that those in favour of changing systems took heart from a poll by the Strategy Council published in the Globe and Mail that among younger voters, aged 18 to 34, 66 per cent favoured the MMP system.
“If that poll is anywhere near correct and we’d had only young voters voting …” he said.
“Election reform is coming. We will keep pressing like any campaign.”
Gordon said that it will take a few months of relaxing before the group can take an objective look at the campaign, but he noted that the group is getting numerous emails in support, and numerous young people are contacting Fair Vote Canada to see how they can start Fair Vote chapters.
But, he concluded, it will be a battle to create change, because with the huge results in favour of the status quo, it is unlikely a government will call another referendum any time soon.
“The government has a grip on the Elections Act,” Gordon said.
“It’s always a challenge. It’s not unusual for the government to fall in love with a system that puts them in power.”
He concluded, “It’s usually in the interest of the electorate” to create change.
He added, he expects that it will take a single province to move from first past the post, and other jurisdictions in Canada will then follow suit.
“As soon as there is a breakthrough in Canada …” he said, adding that British Columbia, which voted 58 per cent in favour of change in 2005 (needing 60) will be holding another referendum in 2009.
