[written July 22, 2021]
July 18, 2021 was 100th anniversary of a government elected on promise of electoral reform and that government went through and fulfilled its promise.
The government was the United Farmers of Alberta and it was elected on July 18, 1921 on promise of proportional representation. Three years later it brought in PR in its major cities, a system used for the next eight provincial elections.
The UFA did make a direct promise to reform the voting system.
The Red Deer News (July 6, 1921) carried the party's campaign promises.
First listed was "proportional representation and a preferential ballot in single-member constituencies"
After a series of whereas's (which are again pertinent today under FPTP), it states:
"Reconstructive legislative program
Representation of all classes of the community in the legislature according to their numerical strength. This to be brought about through proportional representation and a preferential ballot in single-member constituencies.
We endorse the principle of initiative, referendum and recall. ....
By proportional representation, the UFA, like most British organizations of the 1920s, meant STV. List PR being of relatively recent invention, it was used in just a handful of countries and only since 1890s.
STV had been more or less invented in 1850s in Britain and Denmark, and put to use in Denmark at that time. In 1921 STV was being brought into use in both Irelands and Malta. It had been used in Tasmania (Australia) since 1909 and in South Africa. In 1921 STV was being used - or had been used at some time since 1917 - to elect city councils in 17 or so Canadian cities.
PR at the time was sometimes described as "grouped constituencies and preferential voting," that is, multiple-member districts and transferable votes - Single Transferable Voting (STV), in other words. But the 1921 UFA campaign platform simply called it "proportional representation."
The UFA's PR promise was also publicized in Edmonton Bulletin, July 12, 1921 (page 16); Redcliff Review, July 21, 1921 (page 1); Irma Times, July 22, 1921 (page 5); Blairmore Enterprise, July 28, 1921 (page 4). Other newspapers likely carried the promise, but a quick search (using Peel's Prairie Provinces website) did not find them.
Unfortunately, the government did not promise to adopt STV to elect every MLAs across the province.
In 1924 when the government fulfilled its promise of electoral reform, it carried on the city-wide multi-member districts used in Edmonton and Calgary and Medicine Hat, but restricted each voter to just one vote. It carried on the single-member districts outside those three places. It made all the votes preferential, and thus transferable, thus creating STV in those three cities and Alternative Voting (Instant-Runoff Voting) elsewhere. (Voter had liberty to mark back-up preferences or not. Even when back-up preferences were marked, there was no guarantee they would be used for transfer - many votes initially placed on successful candidates were never transferred.)
Thus 12 MLAs of Alberta's 61 were elected through STV, about 20 percent.
The government did not adopt STV to elect every MLA across the province, but that had not been its promise as shown above.
(If rural districts had been grouped, and STV used, it is likely that the UFA would have elected a bit fewer MLAs in 1926 and 1930 but would have elected some representation in 1935 despite the Social Credit's landslide in that pivotal election. In 1935, the UFA did receive more than ten percent of the votes so was due six or more seats, while under STV in Edmonton and IRV outside Edm/Calg, it won no seats anywhere. (see Montopedia blog -"What if UFA had grouped constituencies outside Edmonton and Calgary? 1935 wipe-out prevented?")
Alberta was not the first to bring in (partial) PR. Manitoba had done it in 1920, without a referendum and without the government even being elected on that promise. Back in the previous election (1915), reform was discussed but never put forward as promise. Winnipeg districts were grouped and the new single city-wide district was given ten seats and each Winnipeg voter was given a transferable preferential ballot. (Later Mantioba changed its other districts to AV/IRV.)
The UFA took its election as sign of support for its platform and proceeded to bring in PR in the cities/ IRV elsewhere without a referendum.
Complicating the picture and making the move appear partisan and based on self-interest, the UFA did figure that itself and Labour would benefit from the change - at least to the extent that finally a UFA MLA and a Labour MLA would be elected in Edmonton, which had never happened before under either Block voting or FPTP.
The sitting Liberal MLAs in Edmonton, elected with relatively few votes, opposed the change. (Perhaps Nellie McClung, the most-socially-conscious of the Liberal MLAs, recognized the basic justice of the move, I don't know). (In 1921 the Liberal party with just a minority of the votes had taken all the Edmonton seats.)
Denied representation in Edmonton in 1921 under Block Voting, the UFA and Labour hoped change to PR would give them proper rep. Labour had hopes that a fair voting system would finally allow it to win at least one prov. seat in Edmonton, an achievement that had been beyond them under FPTP or BV since 1905, even though by 1921 several labour city councillors and even a labour-oriented mayor (Joe Clarke) had been elected to Edmonton city hall.
After PR-STV was brought in in Edmonton, the UFA elected one MLA in Edmonton and Labour elected one, something that neither party had been able to do before in Edmonton under BV or FPTP.
Liberal and Conservative parties elected MLA(s) in Edmonton as well, so very fair result.
This was the effect of the use of PR-STV for next seven elections in Edmonton, and Calgary as well, mixed roughly proportional representation elected in each city each time. the most-popular candidate of each party was chosen directly by voters. Local (city-based) representation was preserved. Large proportion of voters in each city had elected MLAs who represented their viewpoint. Large proportion of votes used effectively, were used to elect someone.
That democratic accountability that Alberta once had - it began with an election held a hundred years ago last Sunday.
Thanks for reading.
=================================
Comments