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"