Federal government won’t take electoral reform to referendum in 2016

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VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Critics of the new federal government say it could be Justin Trudeau’s first failure as prime minister. During the campaign, Trudeau pledged to change the first-past-the-post system.

Liberal house leader Dominic Leblanc has confirmed the party will put together a parliamentary committee to consult Canadians but won’t be taking the issue to a public referendum.

Max Cameron is the director of the Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions at UBC and says the government will take 18 months to study the matter.

“In this case, what they’ve sort of said is, ‘We’re not actually sure what we’re going to do. What we’re promising is to change the system, but we’re not sure what we’re going to change it to, so let’s put this to a committee and have the committee study the matter and make a recommendation and then we’ll move forward on that basis.'”

Proponents of electoral reform say change is needed because the current system doesn’t represent the majority of voters. On its website, Fair Vote Canada defines proportional representation as “any voting system designed to produce a representative body (like a parliament, legislature, or council) where the voters are represented in that body in proportion to how they voted. The current voting system elects only one MP in each riding. When more than two candidates run in an election, MPs can be elected with less than half of the votes in the Riding. The other half of the voters are unrepresented.”

Cameron believes the Liberals’ move to consult with Canadians before heading to the polls is a smart move, as many voters traditionally vote ‘no’ in referendums.

“These are complicated issues, it’s true. It’s hard for people to get their heads wrapped around these issues. I think the primary reason for not wanting a referendum is because referenda tend to be biased in favour of the ‘no’ side. People tend to be conservative in referenda.”

Two referendums on the Single Transferable Vote have been held in BC — one in 2005 and one in 2009. Both were rejected.

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