Action you can take before Nov 20th, 2026 to fix our voting system in Ontario

Dear Ontario Cooperate for Canada supporter, 

Ontario needs proportional representation (PR). It would mean the end of 40% “majorities” – like the one that we have right now. The end of wasted votes. The end of one-man rule. A chance to take action on health care, climate change, housing etc.

Right now, the prospects for getting PR are good. We’just’ need to get the NDP, Liberal, and Green parties to work together now on a common PR platform for the next election. The latest poll about PR in Ontario shows that this is what the people of Ontario want. 

In Ontario, the NDP and the Greens have supported PR for a long time, but the Ontario Liberal Party (OLP) has lagged behind. However, right now,  they are in the middle of a leadership race where three of the five current leadership candidates support PR to varying degrees. 

So, what can you do as a PR supporter?

There are two things you can do to make sure that the next Ontario Liberal leader is in favour of proportional representation.

1) You can vote in November if you signed up before Sept. 7. It will be a ranked ballot so make sure you include your second choice etc. Here are details about the four remaining candidates and one former candidate as of October 16. Their positions may still shift and solidify as the campaign continues and that will be updated here.

The information below in quotes is from the candidates’ websites. Two of the candidates do not mention electoral reform at all on their website. We have attended dozens of meet-the-candidates events across Ontario. In the C4C comments sections, we have included observations and information based on repeated statements they have made in conversation and during their Q and A sessions.

Lee Fairclough https://leefairclough.ca added the following to her platform on Sept. 20: “Strengthening Democratic Institutions. Ontarians are not getting the meaningful representation they deserve. The Ford government routinely tramples rights and funnels public money to insiders and friends. Our electoral system and political financing regime require serious examination and reform. To accomplish reforms will require citizen buy-in and cooperation among political parties. As Leader, Lee will assign a caucus member as Advocate for Democratic Reforms to advance that work.”

C4C comments: At the start of her campaign, Lee was aware of the problem with First Past The Post but unsure of what the solution was. She has been very open to discussions about the topic and learning more. She started talking about creating the position of Advocate for Democratic Reforms as far back as June. At recent events, she has clearly expressed support for working toward electoral reform by reaching out to the other opposition parties, as well as targeted strategic electoral cooperation that could allow more opposition MPPs to win seats. Although she has not declared support for ‘proportional representation’, her support can be inferred as only a proportional system would be acceptable to the other opposition parties.  

Dylan Marando https://votefordylan.ca included the following in his platform on Oct. 9:

“PUT RENEWAL AND REPRESENTATION ON THE TABLE. In Opposition, we will appoint a critic for Democratic Institutions, who will introduce a motion in the Legislature seeking all-party cooperation to explore MPP term limits and Proportional Representation.
MONEY SHOULDN’T EQUAL POWER. Reverse Ford’s political donation limit increases, which have stacked the deck in favour of a deep-pocketed donor class, and reform our own efforts in raising funds from the grassroots, under the leadership of permanent, in-house fundraising professionals.”

C4C comments: From the start of his campaign, Dylan expressed strong personal support of proportional representation but was unsure whether to include support for PR in his platform. Until as late as Sept. 30, he felt that the Ontario Liberal party was not ready to support electoral reform. That has changed.

Stephanie Bowman https://stephaniebowman.ca On October 17 Stephanie put the following on her website:

“Ready to Strengthen Democratic Representation. Our democratic institutions should reflect the voices of the people they represent. That means respecting local democracy, ensuring elected representatives are accountable to their communities and examining how Ontario’s electoral system can better reflect the choices of voters.

I will:

• Acknowledge the shortcomings of Ontario’s first-past-the-post electoral system and convene an Ontario Liberal policy conference to examine proportional representation and other electoral reforms, with meaningful input from party members;
• Allow regions to elect their own chairs in the manner that they see fit, and respect regional democracy by removing strong chair powers; and
• Conduct an independent review of Ontario’s strong mayor powers.

C4C comments: Stephanie has been open to discussions about electoral reform but for a long time her answers were varied and vague. She said that we need voter voices to count, that she would listen to party leadership, members and Ontario residents, and that she is open to looking into what could work for Ontario. She wants something that is good for the voters, not just for the Liberal party. We are pleased that she has included proportional representation on her website but are concerned that she does not mention multi-party cooperation. 

Navdeep Bains https://navdeepbains.ca has nothing in his platform about electoral reform.

C4C comments: Navdeep has been willing to discuss electoral reform when questioned but he has not changed his initial views and he has made it clear that he does not see electoral reform as a priority. He supports mandatory voting and Alternative Vote (ranked ballots in single-member ridings) which is not proportional.

Eric Lombardi https://ericforolp.ca has withdrawn from the leadership race. He is now endorsing Lee Fairclough.

2) You can attend the many meet-the-candidates events.

You can show the Ontario leadership candidates that there is strong support for PR and help convince the members of the Liberal party that they should support PR by voting for a leader that supports it. You can find an up to date listing of events across Ontario on the OLP website

You don’t need to be a Liberal to attend these events. However, you should be Liberal-curious and able to engage in friendly conversation. Perhaps start off by asking what they think of the latest thing the PCs have done. You might ask them if they are aware of the policy resolution for PR that is being proposed by Revitalizing Our Democracy (a group Ontario Liberal Party members). You could bring a few copies of the first page of the resolution to give to interested people. You might want to read the longer explainer document to give you greater background information.

After a conversation, ask if they would be willing to sign a petition to support PR through multi-party support.
There is a paper version that you can bring and if possible, get them to use the QR code at the top right corner. If they prefer paper, get them to write legibly and then you can take a photo and send it to us.

During these events, you can use the Q and A period to ask a question about PR. In your question, you might want to include include a short educational pre-amble to help educate the audience. Here are some examples

“Our present voting system is stacked against the Liberals. In the last three elections, they have received only ⅓ of the seats that they would get under a proportional system. What will you do to fix this problem? 

“The past three elections have resulted in a PC majority and left the opposition parties powerless despite the fact that the PCs only got 42% of the vote. What will you do to bring in a better voting system?”

“The Liberals have been in power for only 20 of the past 80 years. These terrible odds will continue unless we get rid of First Past the Post. Do you support working towards a more proportional system?”

Feel free to contact us if you have questions or concerns or would like to be introduced to some other people attending a particular event.