LETTER

Electoral reform: the survey, and how to make it work

 

On December 1, the all-party committee on electoral reform (ERRE) released its recommendation.

The committee recognized that 88% of the public and the experts who participated in the cross-country consultation said Canada needs proportional representation. 71% of the expert witnesses opposed a referendum.

But the committee recommended a referendum - with first-past-the-post on the ballot. Just as bad, the Liberals issued a surprise “supplementary report” recommending the government break its election promise and deliver no change for 2019!  They think making your vote count is “too radical” and not enough people have jumped through enough hoops of “engagement” for them to keep their promise.

Here’s the bottom line: 10,997,262 of us voted for parties which promised to make 2015 the last first-past-the-post election, and to Make Every Vote Count in 2019.  

Minister of Democratic Institutions Maryam Monsef has launched a national survey on democratic reform. It closes on December 30. A postcard with the URL for the survey was sent to 13 million homes.

Fair Vote Canada  ran an ad in the Toronto Star calling on the government to include a clear question: Should 30% of the vote equal 30% of the seats?

The all-party Electoral Reform Committee also asked the Minister to include the questions they used in their online survey on specific voting systems in her questionnaire (results strongly favoured PR).

Both questions were ignored by the minister.

There is no straightforward question about proportional representation, voter equality or electoral systems on the government survey. There are a lot of misleading questions and questions that play to fear-mongering about PR. We do not support the contents of this survey. It does not move the conversation forward.

However, the survey is out there and the government will be considering the level of engagement they receive and answers they get. There are questions where you can support proportional representation - such as cross-party cooperation and political diversity. A strong showing for these values on the survey will send another message to the government that Canadians support PR.

Our guide is here - please read and share: www.mycanadiandemocracy.ca. The government’s survey is here: www.mydemocracy.ca.

Let’s keep (pushing for) the fulfilment of the campaign promise to Make Every Vote Count.

Anita Nickerson,  Fair Vote Canada
Ottawa