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First Past the Post
Long before Justin Trudeau spoke about electoral reform (ER), another Trudeau tackled the issue. It was in 1979 and that Trudeau was Pierre Elliot. The difference between the visions of the two Trudeaus is clear. One was based on how to make the federal system more robust and more representative, while the other was based on self (party) interest.
If U.S. President Donald Trump's election south of the border has demonstrated anything, it's that the biggest political extremist threat comes not from small, radical parties on the fringes of political discourse, but from extremist politicians hijacking a major party and using its established legitimacy to validate their views.
The decision to abandon their electoral reform pledge was reached after a two-hour discussion in January.
We have had the same basic voting system in this country since Confederation. After 150 years, it is time for a change to something more modern, inclusive and democratic. It is time for an electoral system that ensures that everyone's voice is heard and counted when deciding the next government.
Simply put, the Liberals want a different result this time around. Ontario voted down a change to the electoral system (as did British Columbia and PEI), and the Liberals do not want to give Canadians the chance to say no again. Canadians deserve to hear from Mendelsohn and Butts in this debate. They need to explain why they are not adhering to the same open and fulsome process they created for Ontario. They need to explain why they gave Ontarians a vote in 2007, but are not giving Canadians a vote today.
Our existing FPTP electoral system is frequently said to produce stable governments. However, when one considers the volume of policies and programs that are regularly revamped when the balance of power shifts between Canada's "centrist" political parties, the validity of this assertion becomes debatable.
About 56 per cent also said they support a new electoral system.
Rivals are accusing the government of stacking the deck for the next election.
only 39 per cent of those who voted chose Liberal candidates. Four years ago the Conservatives took 39 per cent of the popular vote and were also a "majority." The "majority" before that was another Liberal one. The last time we had a real majority government in Canada was back in 1984 when the Mulroney Conservatives got 50.03 per cent of the popular vote.
Calgary strategic voting group 1VoteMatters identified leading progressive candidates across Canada in advance of the Oct. 19 federal election.
