Ontario needs proportional representation!
In February 2025, Ontario’s first-past-the-post voting system gave a single party with 43% of the vote 100% of the power.
Voter turnout was 45.4%, meaning a “majority” government was elected by less than 20% of eligible voters.
False majorities are not a new problem. In fact, the last time a “majority” government in Ontario was elected by a majority of voters was in 1937. In almost every election in Ontario, most votes just don’t count and the majority of voters elect no-one.
We need a transformation that gives citizens a stronger voice on the policies that affect our lives.
It’s time for proportional representation in Ontario.
To stay up-to-date with the campaign, make sure you have signed the Declaration of Voters’ Rights:
Ontario election 2025 and beyond
Doug Ford’s increase to political donation limits advantages his party, but making the per-vote subsidy permanent is the right thing to do
The PC’s decision to raise the amount individuals can donate annually to a political party to $5000 gives wealthy Ontarians an even bigger influence over politics. Doug Ford’s decision to make the per vote subsidy is a welcome investment in Ontario’s democracy.
PCs form a “majority” government with 43% of the vote: Ontario voters cheated again by first-past-the-post
Only 43% of Ontario voters supported the PCs, yet the voting system has handed Doug Ford’s PCs 64.5 % of the seats and 100% of the power.
The platforms are out, and here is where they stand.
Ontario Green Party platform gets it right on electoral reform
The Ontario Green Party platform gives voters a process they can trust and a commitment to implement a proportional system. The platform states:
Democratic reform
“Create a diverse, randomly selected Citizens Assembly on electoral reform with a mandate to provide binding recommendations on modernising Ontario’s electoral system to ensure that every vote counts and that the legislature reflects the democratic will of the people.”
Ontario election 2022
In the 2022 Ontario election, Doug Ford’s Conservatives got 41.8% of the popular vote. That gave them 67% of the seats and 100% of the power. Read our election night analysis of how first-past-the-post failed voters.
An Ontario Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform is the next step to a democracy where the voices and votes of Ontario citizens really matter.
Politicians are in an unavoidable conflict of interest when it comes to reforming the electoral system―so they need to get out of the way and let citizens lead!
A majority of Ontarians surveyed in November 2021 would support an Ontario Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform, with very few opposed.
Ontario election 2022 graphics
Policy lurch in Ontario
Drastic policy lurch as one government is replaced by its opposite—and the uncertainty and instability it creates—is endemic to winner-take-all voting.
Read more about policy lurch here, and see some Ontario examples below.
POLL ON ELECTORAL REFORM IN ONTARIO
A November 2021 polling by Leger commissioned by Fair Vote Canada shows a majority reject one-party decision-making on electoral reform, support a Citizens’ Assembly and the principle of proportional representation. See highlights of the poll below and the full poll here.
Ontario press releases and blogs archive 2022-2025
Ontario Liberal Leadership Race 2023: Where Do They Stand on Electoral Reform?
It’s hard to overstate the importance of the party leader to making progress towards electoral reform.
The report card is based on two things: what is in their leadership platform, and their past verifiable actions in support of proportional representation or a Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform. Fair Vote Canada supports an independent Citizen’s Assembly as an evidence-based process we can trust.
First-past-the-post fuels insider deals in Ontario
All Ontarians can thank Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk for her diligent work uncovering the Greenbelt giveaway but today’s scandal begs the question: What other major decisions are being made with little oversight, purely for the benefit and partisan self-interest of one political party?
Greenbelt vote would have turned out differently with proportional representation.
Opposition to Bill 23, the “More Homes Built Faster Act” which opens up building on the Greenbelt, continues to increase.
Building more housing, faster, is a priority for all the parties at Queen’s Park. If Ontario had proportional representation, the PCs would have had to compromise with other parties to create a plan with majority support.
Ford bulldozes democratic safeguards and consolidates power
The most troubling actions of the Ford government are those that erode democracy itself.
Government actions that chip away at our democratic checks and balances should be of concern to all Ontarians, no matter where they fall on the political spectrum.
Notwithstanding clause… again? First-past-the-post makes it easy for leaders to abuse their power
Doug Ford threatened to invoke the notwithstanding clause again. Our most basic rights in future may well be determined by what a party leader can get away with. When one party holds all the power with 41% of the vote, who is going to stop them?
Doug Ford’s move to concentrate power with “strong mayor” system is a step backward for local democracy
Provincial and federal politics suffers from an overwhelming and stifling concentration of power in the leader’s office. With decisions cooked up by a few unelected party hacks around the Premier or the Prime Minister, there’s nothing for most MPs or MPPs to do but sell (or oppose) decisions they had no say in making. If Doug Ford gets his way, this curse of federal and provincial politics could be coming to city councils across Ontario.
Liberals put self-interest ahead of Ontarians with ranked ballot pledge
The Ontario Liberal Party’s pledge to ram through winner-take-all ranked ballots* should be slammed by all Ontarians as a self-interested power grab―because that’s exactly what it is. Replacing first-past-the-post with another winner-take-all system is a phony reform that solves almost nothing, and could create more problems.
Ontario Liberal Leader Stephen Del Duca’s promise to force through winner-take-all ranked ballots should be slammed by all Ontario voters who care about democracy.
Policy lurch in Ontario is money down the drain.
Looks like we can soon chalk up another $30 million to the bill for first-past-the-post.This week’s report by the the Narwhal highlighted the latest round of lawsuits facing the Ford government over its abrupt, ideologically-driven cancellation of Ontario’s cap and trade program.
Drastic policy lurch as one government is replaced by its opposite—and the uncertainty and instability it creates—is endemic to winner-take-all voting.
Read more press releases and blogs