'Second class' opinion

“The new voting system Ontarians are being asked to decide on would create a ‘second class’ of MPPs accountable to no one other than their political parties, Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory says” -- from Kerry Gillespie’s lead

It’s this type of simplistic statement that drives proponents of MMP up the wall. Surely Tory doesn’t actually believe that list members would be accountable only to their political bosses? Public (voter) opinion -- nah, that wouldn’t have any impact on list members and their parties, would it?

Here’s a hypothetical for ya: a proposed list member for Party XYZ is found to have had connections with an anti-Semitic group. Public outcry follows. How well would Party XYZ do in an election if it chose to ignore the outcry? Not very.

Tory’s Tories have one very good reason to oppose proportional politics in Ontario: they’ve got the most to lose. The centre and centre-left popular vote usually surpasses the Conservative vote. In 1999, progressive forces took 53 per cent, and in 2003, the tally was 64 per cent. Obviously, progressive vote splitting is most costly in a first past the post system, where Conservatives can win their ticket to Queen’s Park thanks to competition among the red, orange and green folks.