Toronto Star
October 03, 2007
The NDP would likely pull the strings in
future Ontario parliaments if citizens vote in favour of a new way of
electing MPPs in next week's referendum, a debate was told last night.
While Liberals and Progressive
Conservatives are more likely to form governments now, the New Democrats
as the traditional third party stand to gain the most if Ontario adopts
the proposed change that adds an element of proportional representation
to the existing system, said Charles Harnick, who served as PC attorney
general in the late 1990s.
"The greatest interest the NDP has is
being the leading number of seats ... in a coalition," Harnick, an
opponent of the reform, told a Churchill Society debate at the
University of Toronto.
"They will, election after election after
election, hold the balance of power."
Harnick was facing off against former
federal NDP leader Ed Broadbent, who argued in favour of the reform,
saying it would result in a Legislature that reflects the voters' will.
"As a New Democrat, I'd love to take my
chances with this system," he told a crowd of about 60 at the debate
co-sponsored by the Toronto Star.
Both Broadbent and Harnick agreed the
reforms, if passed, would lead to more parties winning seats in the
Ontario Legislature, forcing more coalition governments.
Broadbent argued coalitions would cut
down on the strong measures sometimes imposed by majority governments in
the current system, forcing a more collaborative approach.
"They would have to listen more."
The two men also said Premier Dalton
McGuinty made a mistake holding the referendum at the same time as the
Oct. 10 election because it has overshadowed debate on reforms, with
polls showing most Ontarians aren't paying attention. The referendum
ballot will ask voters if they want to change the way MPPs are elected
in Ontario or keep the existing system, in which the candidate with the
most votes wins.
The alternative on offer is called
mixed-member proportional representation, or MMP.
It would expand the Legislature from the
107 MPPs that will be elected in next week's election to 129 – but with
a difference. Of the total, 90 would be elected in traditional ridings
and 39 would be elected from lists of candidates compiled by political
parties to reflect their share of the popular vote.
Critics warn MMP could produce minority
governments with fringe parties holding the balance of power. For the
MMP initiative to pass, it will take a super-majority of 60 per cent of
voters and at least half the voters in 64 of the 107 ridings.
If that occurs, the new system would take
effect for the next provincial election.
