Alternative vote

Re: Liberals abandon electoral reform — Feb. 2

It is clear that Mr. Trudeau’s case for dumping electoral reform is trumped up (pardon the pun) to cover what is a purely self-serving and deeply cynical decision; one that places the Liberal party’s interests ahead of Canada’s.

Mr. Trudeau’s election as prime minister is very much a reaction to four years of autocratic rule by a man who received 39.6 per cent of the popular vote in 2011 and who then proceeded to act as if this was a mandate to transform the country via changes which he had somehow forgotten to mention in the election campaign.

I and many others worked for and voted for the Liberals not because we thought that they were necessarily the best party to govern Canada, but because they were perceived to be the best option to a) defeat Harper and b) change the electoral system so

that we would never have that sort of government imposed on us against our will ever again.

Mr. Trudeau’s disclaimer that he does not have “the broad support of the people of this country” for a change in the electoral system is, at best, dubious. About two-thirds of the country voted for parties that promised electoral reform, and extensive consultations by the special committee on electoral reform showed that around 90 per cent of the people and the experts prefer proportional representation because it’s the most democratic system. However, as soon as the PM realized that alternative vote (his choice and one that strongly favours the Liberal party) would not fly, former Democratic Institutions Minister Maryam Monsef started talking about “the broad support of Canadians” and the writing was on the wall for electoral reform. Jon Bath maker Waterloo