Trudeau breaks electoral reform promise, claims Canadians don’t want it
Posted February 1, 2017 9:55 am.
Last Updated February 1, 2017 12:05 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA, ON. (NEWS 1130) – It was a big promise in the 2015 federal election campaign but in a mandate letter, Trudeau says electoral reform is not on the agenda. He says consultations across the country make it clear Canadians are not clamouring for a new system.
Democratic Institutions Minister Karina Gould, who has just been appointed to the position, is sticking by her bosses decision.
“It was our responsibility to consult with Canadians,” says Gould. “It was our responsibility to ask them what the values they cherish are in our electoral system and that’s what we did over the past year, and we had an incredible conversation, at times a challenging one, at times a passionate one, but that’s something that I’m grateful for, and I’m looking forward to moving ahead on this file.”
Late last month, it was revealed that two-thirds of Canadians are happy with how their current voting system works, says a report detailing the findings of the Trudeau government’s online electoral reform survey.
The report, quietly released online by Democratic Institutions Minister Karina Gould, also suggested Canadians are willing to entertain changes to the system — provided they don’t complicate the voting process.
“Though satisfaction does not necessarily preclude a desire for reforming the electoral system, a majority of Canadians (67 per cent) report being somewhat or very satisfied with the way democracy works in Canada,” said the report’s executive summary.
UBC Political Scientist David Moscrop says the consultations used to make this decision might not be truly reflective. “The process was awful. The problem with townhalls is they attract very specific people, they don’t really get to everybody and even the online survey wasn’t representative either.”
Throughout the 2015 election, Trudeau repeatedly promised a change, although has hinted in recent months that he felt there wasn’t a huge appetite to kick the first-past-the-post to the curb.
