Friends, 6201 is not the title of the newest Rush album.  This is a number we need to remember over the course of the next four years and especially during the next election. 

6,201 is the COMBINED margin of victory across the 14 most closely contested Conservative ridings in Canada.  The COMBINED margin of victory. This is how close the election actually was.  In each of these races the Conservatives had a margin of victory of less than 800 votes.  Most margins were much, much smaller.

You need to remember the number 14 for two reasons.  Firstly, it is the number of seats the Conservatives currently have above and beyond their majority. 

In these 14 contentious races, if there had been even a slightly more focused effort by the parties on the Left to consolidate their voter bases we could have easily swayed the balance of power away from the Conservatives and prevented their majority (only 6,201 votes total were needed, spread across 14 ridings).  

14 is also significant because, if you can believe it, 14 votes was the actual margin of victory for the Conservatives over the Liberals in the eastern Ontario riding of Nipissing-Timiskaming.  In this riding 11,357 people voted for the NDP or the Green party.  27,887 registered electors didn't vote at all.  Only 14 votes were needed to defeat the Conservatives.  Let that sink in.

Across Canada 7,867,870 people voted Liberal, NDP or Green.  5,832,401 voted Conservative. This is a difference of over 2 million votes.  Do not believe the hype.  A government with 39.6 percent of the popular vote should not have a mandate to drive through fundamental changes in policy.
 

The Progressive Conservatives and the Alliance had the wherewithal to "unite the right" in 2003 and it seems that until the Left are able to arrive at a similar compromise or agreement they may very well be doomed to repeatedly collect 60 percent of the vote and wield zero percent of the power.

Dealing intelligently with the system we currently live in is the first part of our concern, but obviously when one becomes aware of how easy it is for the intentions of the voters to become distorted, it is hard not to conclude that some kind of electoral reform is needed.

The system ought to be structured in such a way that supporting your party of choice in a straightforward manner doesn't have disastrous and counter-intuitive consequences. People shouldn't have to worry about this kind of electoral arcana.

We are 1 of only 4 countries in the industrialized world that still use the antiquated First Past The Post (FPTP) system in a world where nearly every other country has adopted a form of proportional representation (other FPTP countries include India, USA and England. Although the British are holding a referendum RIGHT NOW about switching to a hybrid of proportional representation called Alternative Vote). 

Arguments against proportional representation (PR) usually centre around the idea that it restricts regional representation and diversities, yet surely we must be capable of developing a form of PR, like the British AV system mentioned above, that can address the unique needs of our nation while ensuring that every single citizen's vote is counted, respected and valued. 

It is almost unimaginable for electoral reform to be passed by the current regime so it is important we stay educated as an electorate and vote responsibly in the next election.  Hopefully next time we can elect a government that will respect the importance of electoral reform and listen to our demands for representation that reflect the real will of our nation.

6,201 reasons to get frustrated.

We can not let this happen again.  Get the word out. (X)

Update: An Elections Canada judicial recount has confirmed that the NDP in fact won the northeast Quebec riding of Montmagny-L’Islet-Kamouraska-Riviere-du-Loup (Number 3 on the above list) by nine votes.