To the New Brunswick Legislature:

Democracy is supposed to mean "the majority rules." It doesn't mean that here. With our system, it's normal for a party to win an election with less than half the vote. Sometimes much less than half. This year, the Progressive Conservatives won most of the seats with less than 40% of the vote.

In 2018, the PCs won fewer votes than the Liberals did--but they still won the election. This was a reversal of the will of the people, especially in the north, where most people voted Liberal.

Distortions of the popular will are normal. Recently, it's the PCs who have benefited, but it wasn't always that way. In 1987, the Liberals won every seat in the Legislature with 60% of the vote.

There is a lot of concern about how divided our society is today. Our system exaggerates those divisions. The PCs won nothing in the north, while the Liberals won nothing in the southwest. This makes the regional and linguistic divide look worse than it is.

A better system is possible. Back in 2004, we had a Commission on Legislative Democracy. It recommended proportional representation, which would have fixed these problems.

It's time to stop talking and start doing.

Please convene a Citizen's Assembly to design a better system for use in the 2024 election.