Editor:
Re: “Swing voters and PR” by Alan Donenfeld, Letters, April 13.
It is ironic that correspondent Donenfeld in warning against proportional representation empowering extremist parties mentions the Bloc Quebecois. Federally in 1993, Canada’s official opposition was the separatist Bloc Quebecois because their 13 per cent of the vote translated into 54 seats, while in that same election the Progressive Conservative 16 per cent of the vote translated into just two seats. The truth is our current voting system is completely unpredictable and quite capable of empowering extremists. One need only think of President Trump who was elected under first-past-the-post. He would have never been elected under PR.
The world needs more cooperation, governing by consensus and less polarizing, adversarial politicking. The current system promotes polarization. Just think of the Kinder Morgan conflict. Under PR we would be searching for a compromise such as looking for ways to refine our oil products in Canada before shipping them off raw, threatening our pristine coastline. In November I will be voting for consensus and cooperation. I hope you will, too.
Nick Loenen, Garden Bay
