The NDP have lost their way

This is what I was saying in one of my earlier posts on the site, correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the NDP lost their official party status because of lack of seats last election. And while I am not a supporter of the NDP party I do think that having more than 2 parties in Canada is important to the overall health and equity of our country.

It can be very hard for 2 parties to represent the values and opinions of every group in Canada within the house of Commons, having more than 2 parties not only allows for more ideas to be tabled but it also helps prevents power abuse as if the people are not in favor of how the current two parties are running than there are always other options.

With all this considered though I do not see myself voting outside of the main 2 parties like most people because as most people say, they don't want to "throw away their vote." By wasting it on a party that will not get a seat and then will not represent them. Because personally I would rather have a party that represents most of my values get in rather than allow the apposing party to win.
I think you are right about the NDP loosing their official status. The party was trying to change the required number of seats to have official status. I never heard the outcome of that in the house of commons. Without official status, the party doesn't get funding.
Regarding "throwing away their vote"... If people vote for the party they want in power, it shows the true representation of where the people are at. Unfortunately, the system itself does not encourage this, especially if 2 parties are very close in the polls. People vote for which party they can tolerate better.
There has been some discussion about changing " first past the post"