In two referendums, one on each side of the border, residents of Maine voted in favour of switching the entire state over to ranked choice voting and two days earlier voters in P.E.I. embraced a system called mixed member proportional. Both of these systems offer distinct benefits to voters and offer a glimpse of hope that we can overcome the democratic deficit in both countries.

Is it because a consensus is forming not around a ranked ballot -- which is what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau previously said he preferred -- but rather around the NDP and Green Party's preferred option of a proportional system as long as Canadians, in a referendum, say they want it? Despite their claims, do the Liberals truly have the "broad support" of Canadians in mind when it comes time to put forth a new electoral system?

Ranked ballots give more power to voters by eliminating strategic voting, encouraging positive campaigns and ensuring that unpopular incumbents can't win their seats due to vote-splitting -- but critics of reform are speaking out. They reveal a comedic double-standard. Some of the same people who are trying to derail democratic reform in Ontario themselves use the exact same system that they claim is too complex or unfair.