Feeling unrepresented? Let's depoliticize by-elections

The practices governing by-elections allow many Canadians to go unrepresented in the House for much longer than do by-election practices in other Westminster-style parliamentary democracies, notably Britain and Australia. To the extent that Canadian practices do this, they contravene the principles of representative democracy.

When a vacancy occurs in the House of Commons, the Speaker instructs the chief electoral officer to issue a writ of election for the riding. The by-election itself must be called within six months of the seat becoming vacant, but there is no limit on how long after this the election must take place. The prime minister decides when a by-election is to be held.

Only 52 days will elapse between John Godfrey's resignation earlier this month and the announced by-election date of Sept. 22. Usually, seats remain vacant for much longer. Bill Graham's seat of Toronto Centre was not filled from his resignation on July 2, 2007, until Bob Rae won a by-election on March 17, 2008 - a period of eight months and 15 days. Often, the constituency remains unrepresented for even longer.

Prime ministers usually lump a number of by-elections together on a single election day. Stephen Harper, for example, ordered three by-elections to be held on Sept. 17, 2007, and four on March 17, 2008; three are to be held next month, on Sept. 8. The most notorious example of prime ministerial lumping was Pierre Trudeau's "mini-election" in October of 1978, in which by-elections were held in 15 ridings involving nearly a million voters and more than 5 per cent of the seats in the House.

Prime ministers use this practice for their perceived political advantage - perhaps to test the waters before deciding on the timing of a general election, perhaps to delay a seat being filled by an opposition member, or perhaps to hope for a better result at a future date. Prime ministers do not usually give their reasons for their choice of timing. Mr. Trudeau's 1978 mini-election was a disaster for the Liberals, who lost all but two of the seats, presaging the following year's election loss to Joe Clark's Conservatives.

The long gaps between vacancy and by-election show that the principle that Canadians should be represented in the House comes second to the partisan concerns of the government and prime minister. By contrast, in Australia, the overriding principle is that citizens should be represented. The speaker of the Australian House of Representatives issues election writs, and a by-election must be held between 33 and 68 days of the writ's being issued. The average time between vacancy and by-election is 50 days. The longest was 82 days, the shortest 17.

When a seat becomes vacant in Britain, the chief whip of the party that held the seat moves a motion in the House, following which the speaker makes out a warrant and an election writ is issued. It is normal practice that this writ should be issued within three months of a seat becoming vacant. The polling day is usually between 15 and 19 days after the writ is issued. Seats remain vacant for a much shorter time in Britain than in Canada. The prime minister does not control the timing of by-elections in either Britain or Australia.

Proportionately, Canada has far more by-elections than Australia or Britain. In the past 10 years, Canada has had 32, Britain 28 and Australia seven. This works out to one per nine seats in the House in Canada, one per 21 in Australia, and one per 29 in Britain. Unrepresented constituencies leave more of the population unrepresented in Canada than in Australia or Britain.

There is no good justification for the Canadian practice of giving discretion to the prime minister in setting the time of by-elections, and for the long delays between vacancy and by-election. Neither practice serves parliamentary democracy and the constitutional right of Canadians to be represented in Parliament.

Democracy and parliamentary government in Canada would be better served by taking the prime minister out of the by-election process. Parliamentary democracy would also be better served by reducing the time between vacancy and by-election. The British standard of 90 days would be an improvement, but the Australian average of 50 days is a much better goal.

Ned Franks is professor emeritus of political science at Queen's University