From the Archives: Why 3 parties are better than 2

Note: This is another old post that was languishing in the draft folder for many years, intended as a follow-up to this post about the highly partisan nature of American politics, it was first drafted on November 24, 2004 and it is possible that the reason I never posted it to the blog was not that it was incomplete, simply that it was very dull:

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I am thankful for the fact that Canada has more than 2 parties, so that if one party takes a marginal, extreme viewpoint (like the Conservatives saying that Global Warming isn't a serious issue in the last election campaign), then that is at least partly reflected by the fact that there are 3 other parties that disagree with them.

Also, the presence of at least 3 parties in most of Canada makes possible the practice of moderation, something which Ontarians are discovering the value of after swinging first one way and then the other, but something which isn't even an option for folks in B.C. on many issues.