what the liberals have proven over the last ten years is that they need to be perceived as "progressive enough" to swing ndp voters, and if they aren't perceived that way then the vote splits and the conservatives win.

the same pressures for the liberals to remain left-leaning will continue to exist under a ranked ballot system. it may even amplify it, as less people will be afraid to vote for a good ndp candidate because they won't have to worry about splitting the vote.

so, suppose trudeau takes a 360 in his second term and starts imposing austerity measures. in order for the ndp to win a sweep in toronto, all they'll have to do is get more votes than the liberals - which could be as low as 30%. and, people will be more likely to make this voting choice, because they won't be afraid of accidentally electing a conservative.

so, that pressure remains.

i'd stop worrying about this - it will benefit the left more than pr will - and start making sure mulcair isn't converting the ndp into the country's new moderate conservative party. the ndp lost almost everybody in caucus that could have hoped to prevent this. you *do* have an existential crisis in front of you, but it's not this - it's in the direction of your own party.

the purpose of this change is to destroy the conservatives, not to hurt the ndp or even to really cement the liberals in place. it is really not at all clear that it benefits the liberals more than the ndp. but, it is crystal clear that it places the conservatives in third party status for the foreseeable future, and changes the entire political narrative to issues that exist on the center-left. elections in most of the country will be fought between the liberals and the ndp for position on the ballot, with the conservatives reduced largely to a fringe western protest party.

it should be supported. it's better than pr.

it's crude, but the conservatives would have won 59 seats with a cut-off at 46% (which is generous to the conservatives), which would have gained the liberals 30 seats and the ndp 10.

http://rabble.ca/news/2015/10/anything-first-past-post-not-answer-to-canadas-electoral-problem