Prime Minister Stephen Harper's proposal to eliminate the per-vote public financing of federal political parties is an undemocratic step backwards because this financing is based on the fundamental democratic principle of one-person, one-vote.

It also gives a cash boost to parties that do not elect as many MPs as they should because of the flaws of our first-past-the-post voting system.

Since each MP is given about $435,000 annually in public funding for their salary, office and operations, the parties that elect more MPs than they should (more than the percentage of voter support they receive) are subsidized at a much higher level than any other party.  The parties that have appointed senators (Conservatives and Liberals) also receive an even greater public subsidy of about $275,000 annually for each senator's salary, and office and operations expenses.

However, the per-vote subsidy was set at its current level in 2003 by then-Prime Minister Jean Chrétien to ensure the Liberals received an undemocratic dollar-for-dollar replacement of the money they used to raise from corporations.  At this level the subsidy gives parties too much annual support in-between elections.

The subsidy should be cut by 50% for parties that elect a higher percentage of MPs than they should given the percentage of votes they receive, and kept at the same level or cut by at most 25% for parties that elect fewer MPs than they deserve.

The subsidy should also be reduced even more (for example, cut by 75%) for any party that operates only in one province or region, such as the Bloc, because they have lower travel and operating costs than parties with riding associations and candidates across the country.

Making these progressive changes, as opposed to Prime Minister Harper's blanket cut, would give all parties a solid, democratically determined funding base, but still require them to reach out and regularly address the concerns of voters in order to attract their annual donations.

P.S. To see more details about how Canada's federal (and provincial, territorial and municipal) political financing systems should be made more democratic, click here.