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In 2006, 2008 and 2011 federal elections the Harper Conservatives won with only 36-39% of the popular vote.

Today they have 100% of the power. Yet the majority of Canadian voters now have no say in policies or how we are governed.

In 2008, K-W Conservative MP Peter Braid won his seat with 36.06% of the popular vote. In 2011, he won with 40.85% of the popular vote. The majority of voters chose one of the parties that now form the opposition in Parliament.

This situation exists because our First Past the Post electoral system allows vote splitting between parties. Voters for the Liberals, NDP and Greens share much more in common with each other than they do with the Conservatives. Polling data shows that almost 90% of these voters rated one of the other centre-left parties as their second choice.

The Liberals, NDP and Greens are not interested in a merger, and evidence from the United States suggests a two-party system creates greater divisions--something Canada can ill afford.

Strategic voting - attempting to predict the best candidate to defeat the Conservative in each riding and trying to communicate with large numbers of voters to coordinate their vote - cannot overcome vote-splitting by itself.

If the NDP, Liberals and Greens play the same game of competing against each other in every riding, we are very likely to re-elect the Harper Conservatives in 2015, despite the fact that their anti-democratic agenda is opposed by a clear majority of Canadians.

Cooperate for Canada is a national campaign asking the Liberals, NDP and Greens for a one-time agreement to cooperate before the next federal election, particularly in key ridings in which the Conservative candidate won with less than 50% of the vote, to avoid splitting the vote and commit to passing electoral reform once they form government.

The goal of Cooperate for Canada is to form a majority government which reflects the majority of Canadians. Cooperation would be contingent upon a solid commitment by all three parties to electoral reform, to ensure the percentage of seats a party gets in Parliament more closely matches the percentage of Canadians that voted for them.

Cooperation between the three parties to avoid vote splitting can occur in a number of ways. The goal of this petition is to ask the parties, for the sake of Kitchener-Waterloo voters and Canadians, to start the conversation and negotiate an agreement.

We can do it, but only if we start now.

“To the Kitchener-Waterloo Electoral District Associations of the Liberal Party of Canada, New Democratic Party of Canada, and Green Party of Canada:

We, the voters in Kitchener-Waterloo, call on the K-W Liberal, NDP and Green Parties to commit to pre-electoral cooperation to prevent vote splitting, so that we can elect a government that reflects the values of a majority of Canadians, and achieve electoral reform to make our democracy better for everyone.”

Outside the Kitchener-Waterloo riding?

Join the national campaign or sign the Kitchener Centre petition.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

About the Campaign

Who's behind this campaign in Kitchener-Waterloo and can I help?

The local Kitchener-Waterloo campaign is being lead by two Leadnow volunteers, Anita and Jenn. To learn more, or join the local campaign, go to www.citizensforcrosspartycooperationkw.webs.com or email cooperate.kw@leadnow.ca

What do we mean by “cooperation?”

When we say “cooperation” we mean any plan that involves the NDP, Liberals and Greens working together in key ridings to ensure that vote splitting does not result in a Conservative being elected despite the fact that a majority of people in that riding are willing to vote NDP, Liberal or Green. There are a number of different ways of accomplishing this goal, and it should partially be up to negotiation between the parties. We will report on the ideas put forward by the parties and the leadership candidates.

What do we mean by “electoral reform?”

We think that Canada needs to have a national conversation to determine the exact nature of the electoral system that would best fit the needs of Canadians. The goal would be to ensure that the number of seats a party earns through an election closely reflect the number of Canadians who cast ballots for them. The current system does not allow for this, and we need to build consensus on a better system for Canadians.

How did Leadnow decide to organize this campaign?

Since it’s beginnings in March 2011, Leadnow has been working on campaigns and issues that promote political cooperation and democracy. During a series of local gatherings this past year, our community identified electoral reform as a key issue that can help us move towards that goal. The NDP and Liberal leadership races have put cooperation on the table. So we asked our community - what do you think about cooperation to achieve electoral reform? 10,000 responded with 95% in support of the idea.

What would have happened if the NDP, Liberals and Greens had cooperated in the last election?

According to a recent analysis by Christopher Majka of the 2011 results, cooperation would have made sense in 57 Conservative ridings where the Conservative MP won with less than 50% of the vote. If the NDP, Liberals and Greens had agreed to cooperation for electoral reform before 2011, there is a good chance that we would now have an NDP minority goverment supported by the Liberals and Greens. To quote Majka:

“Conservatives would retain 17 seats, whereas opposition candidates would win the remaining 40 — 29 by the Liberals and 11 by the New Democrats. The electoral map of Ontario, in particular, would be redrawn with the Liberals winning an additional 21 seats.

Consequently, the Conservatives would be re-elected with a narrow minority of 126 seats, with the New Democratic Party forming the official opposition with 114 seats. If Conservatives were unable to form a government that had the confidence of the House of Commons, the NDP, Liberal, and Green parties would be in a position to form a stable, majority, coalition government with 178 seats. Such a government would reflect the support of 53.4% of Canadian voters.”

http://www.projectdemocracy.ca/do-canadians-want-political-cooperation

Addressing Key Concerns

Will this make Canada a two party system? Is this a merger?

No, we believe that a multi-party system is essential to a strong democracy in Canada. Cooperation will allow the NDP, Liberals and Greens to join together for progress on electoral reform, and possibly other issues, while retaining their unique party identities and perspectives. After electoral reform has been implemented, the parties will no longer need to cooperate before the election, let alone merge, to ensure that the results of the election reflect the values and priorities of a majority of Canadians.

Is this practical? Don’t the parties distrust each other?

There is a long list of real grievances between the parties. However, the parties only have to agree to cooperate in 15% of the ridings to make sure that they replace Stephen Harper’s government with a government that can pass electoral reform. In 85% of the ridings it’s status quo. We have a few years to build bridges and build consensus for cooperation, but we need to start today.

Are we talking about strategic voting?

No, it’s a one-time deal to make sure we can fix the system. With our current first-past-the-post system, many people feel forced to vote strategically to make sure that the final election results best reflect their values. They do this because they believe that the party they want to vote for cannot win their riding, and they are concerned that a party they strongly disagree with could win. Therefore, they believe that a vote for their preferred candidate is wasted and instead they take a risk and vote for the candidate that they believe is most likely to defeat the candidate they don’t want to win.

The cooperation plan is a one-time agreement by the parties that they will not compete with one another in key ridings, avoiding the vote splitting that makes so many feel compelled to vote strategically, so that we can elect a government that better represents Canadians. In this plan, the new government will then implement electoral reform so that, in the following election, all Canadians are able to vote for the party of their choice knowing that each vote will count.

Would cooperation mean restricting voter choice at the ballot box?

It’s a one-time trade-off. In the stronger cooperation strategies, the NDP, Liberals and Greens agree to only run one candidate against the Conservative incumbent in the riding. So for one election the NDP, Liberal and Green supporters agree to limit their choices at the ballot box in order to make sure that they can elect a government that represents their values, and then fixes the system. In the short-term, it may mean less choice in the upcoming election, but once electoral reform is implemented, all options will be back on the table, and your vote will count.

Why are you asking some parties to cooperate but not others? Isn’t electoral reform a non-partisan issue?

While many conservative voters support electoral reform, Stephen Harper has made his position on electoral reform clear, he is now strongly opposed. In contrast, the NDP, Liberals and Greens are all open to some kind of electoral reform. With the injustice of the current first-past-the-post electoral system so evident in the last election, we believe that this is a unique moment for the opposition parties to come together with a promise to cooperate for electoral reform.