About the Paper

This discussion paper modelled how five different voting systems could work in Canada. The paper was prepared as a submission to The House of Commons Special Committee on Electoral Reform during their consultations with Canadians about reforming the Canadian electoral system. At the time of publication, there were no publicly available models of electoral district maps for alternate electoral systems. This paper provided those models.

What’s in the paper:

• Proof-of-concept models for four new electoral systems, including electoral maps, ballots, and plain-language explanations. The current system is also modelled.
• Systems modelled include: first-past-the-post, the alternative vote, list proportional representation, mixed member proportional, and the single transferable vote.
• An evidence-based review of how each system performs against eight criteria, including voter participation, women’s representation, government effectiveness, and more.

My Role

I was the lead author. Jesse Hitchcock edited the paper. Matt Risser, Marla MacLeod and Angela Hersey contributed significant research to a similar paper modelling systems for Nova Scotia elections which this paper borrowed heavily from.