Clare Hoy's recitation of the problems with Israel's politics says more about Israel than it does about their electoral system. After all, with roughly 100 nations using some form of proportional representation (PR), you're likely to find some oddities.

And Israel certainly fits that category. After all, how many other nations have been cobbled together over the last 60 years with people from around the world with little in common other than their religion?

And yet, it is worth noting that Canada has had the same number of federal elections as Israel since it adopted its current system.

Most nations using PR have about the same number of parties in their legislative assemblies as Canada. Moreover, the First Past the Post (FPTP) system leads to regional parties getting disproportionate representation and power in Parliament. For that we only have to review the record of the last few governments who have needed to rely on Bloc support. And that support always comes with a price.

So Hoy's point about Yisrael Beitenu getting disproportionate influence is misguided. It is up to Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu to accept or reject their support. If he feels they are too extreme in their demands, he can turn them down and look for support from the more moderate parties.

And at least under Israel's PR system you know that any legislation that does get passed is supported by the elected representatives of the majority of the people. Under Canada's FPTP, it's not uncommon for parties with a mere 40% of the vote to gain absolute control of parliament. The voices of the 60% who voted for other parties are silenced.

The reality of PR can't be appreciated by looking at just one election in one nation. FPTP has been largely replaced by PR around the world because it works far better in producing stable and effective governments that reflect the will of the elctorate.

Canada seems destined for minority governments so long as the Bloc maintains its stranglehold on Quebec and the Conservatives dominate the Prairies. PR leads to stable coalitions negotiated openly. FPTP leads to unstable minorities with backroom deals, often with over-represented regional parties, to keep the government going. Hoy may think that's preferable but most of the world's democracies disagree.

Gary Dale

West Hill, ON

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PR is one of those issues that result in misleading and unconvincing responses, even from otherwise knowledgeable journalists. Most definitely PR is more democratic than our outdated FPTP system, intended exclusively for a two party electorate. As to PR, most definitely Israel is NOT a case in point!

(Why are Canadian journalists so obsessed with Israel? It boggles the mind!)

No, we do not know for certain that whatever form of PR Canada adopts it is bound to result in post-electoral confusion. What we do know is that the potential PR system (and its modifications) in Canada and the PR systems existing elsewhere cannot be compared to the situation in Israel.

In Canada, we do not have a multitude of splinter parties, many of which are motivated by extremist religious views. Our parliament was not intended to represent Canadians on the basis of their religion and we have not been doing fine since the Confederation. It boggles the mind how many minority governments have ruled Canada despite failing to secure a clear majority.

In no way, the temporary NDP-Liberal coalition formed before Christmas can be compared to what transpires in Israel. Actually, some informed voters in Canada felt that this temporary coalition was a very positive development, with this writer among them, despite the fact that she has never voted for the federal NDP and had been a member of the now defunct Progressive-Conservative Party.

In 2007, I was working in Ontario's MMP (Mixed Member Proportional) campaign. (MMP is a combination of PR and our current FPTP system.) Despite the reluctance on part of the McGuinty provincial government to inform the electorate as to what MMP was really about, 37% of Ontarians voted for the MMP reform.

This percentage was only one percent less than what Stephen Harper got in the last federal election, despite Harper Conservatives' extremely vigorous (and often misleading) campaign.

Frankly, I wish Canadian journalists would cease flogging the dead Israeli horse! Why not look at the successful PR systems and PR modifications elsewhere? How about the Scandinavian countries and New Zealand?

K. Jean Cottam, PhD

Nepean

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Claire Hoy seems to think that Canada will turn into Israel if we adopt a proportional voting system (Just a quick illustration of reality - Citizen, Feb 19). Why would we not instead become more like Switzerland or Sweden or Holland or Norway or New Zealand or Germany or any of the other 75 countries that have been using proportional voting systems for most of the last century? Would Hoy agree that, if we carry on with first-pastthe post voting, we will soon turn into Zimbabwe?

Wayne Smith

Toronto