As much as some people get annoyed by this, I think it’s actually a good form of peaceful protest. It brings awareness to the issue without disrupting the election process. Anybody who ends up having difficulty voting because of this simply hadn’t been thinking much about the election before picking up their ballot or hasn’t really thought voting was important.

First-past-the-post has definitely being a net detriment to Canadian democracy and perpetuates the two party system that are far-right and right-of-center. The fact that most governments manage to come into power without the even getting half the votes, much less the majority of Canadian support, is proof that the governments we elect haven’t been representing the will of the people.

I’m personally a fan of proportional representation as that means you can simply vote for your favourite candidate and ensure a greater mix of parties reach the table. This makes small parties and independents matter more, as they basically don’t matter at all right now. They’re just a formality since even if they can get a seat, they won’t be heard with such little representation. It does increase the number of seats by a large amount, but it almost guarantees smaller voices will reach the table unless if the support for a single party in a region is overwhelming, which in itself is democracy doing its job.

Ranked ballots aren’t bad either, just that I feel they’re weaker since they tend to strengthen whatever party that forms the government and makes it easier to ignore other voices. But this does mean that smaller parties are more likely to get seats if they align with district interests more. To not have to vote strategically and just let people vote for their favourite candidate makes it far easier on the voter and helps get their voice out.