‘No consensus’ on voting reform, Monsef says
Canadians don’t favour any one system
A letter from Democratic Institutions Minister Maryam Monsef to the special committee studying electoral reform implies she’s been hearing as much support for the status quo as for a new system — a position bound to raise the ire of committee members advocating for proportional representation.
The special committee recently undertook a crosscountry tour where they found a high percentage of participants were in favour of a more-proportional system. Meanwhile, Monsef and her parliamentary secretary Mark Holland held almost 80 meetings, according to the letter obtained by the National Post.
A couple of weeks ago, the committee unanimously decided, upon a motion from the NDP’s Nathan Cullen, that the minister should be asked to share summaries from those meetings. She had already submitted a report on town halls in her own riding, as had other MPs, including the prime minister.
The letter, dated Nov. 16, is Monsef’s response to that request.
Instead of individual summaries of events, Monsef offers three bullet points covering “three overall themes” that stood out to her during meetings.
The first: though there is enthusiasm for some kind of reform, Monsef doesn’t think Canadians have expressed a consensus on a particular system. “Canadians who attended our meetings have passionately championed various systems. While I heard the most passion from proportional representation and first past the post advocates, I have not yet heard a consensus around one particular system over another.”
Committee members, meanwhile, had reported that a high percentage of participants at their events were in favour of proportional representation, and comparatively fewer were in favour of the status quo. The prime minister’s own town hall report says a majority in his riding, at least, seemed to favour proportional representation.
No random polling is included in any of these assessments — they’re based on people who took it upon themselves to show up to an event themed around electoral reform.
The second theme Monsef saw was a consensus “around the democratic values we share,” Monsef writes: “the accountability of local representation, a system that encourages greater voter participation and engagement, and safeguarding the integrity of our voting system.”
The third theme Monsef writes about is Canadians are “clear” they want a more “inclusive and accessible” system that supports “groups that are traditionally underrepresented in our democratic system, including women, young people, indigenous people, visible minorities and Canadians with disabilities.”
In the letter, Monsef also confirms a new “digital tool” will be used to “engage” with as many Canadians as possible. “This project has been planned for some time, and I am looking forward to sharing more with you and all Canadians soon,” she writes.
A senior government source explained an online questionnaire will be launched and advertised via mail-outs sent to every Canadian household. But results will depend on people voluntarily filling out a form about the voting process.
The government is not doing any random polling, so it’s unclear how they will gauge the opinion of the general public, not all of whom will be eager to log in for a survey on electoral systems.
Monsef concludes in her letter that since her own work is underway, “I am not in a position to distribute more detailed information with the committee at this time. I made a commitment to Canadians to share what I heard when this process is complete, and I will keep that commitment.”
The committee is in the final stages of their own process, however, meeting late Thursday night to try finalizing a report that will be tabled in the House of Commons by Dec. 1.
As part of a last-minute effort to gain consensus among parties (at least, among opposition parties) the NDP said Wednesday they’d be willing to consider adding a referendum to the report’s recommendations — the key item that Conservatives were asking for, and something the Green party leader, Elizabeth May, also said she’d consider.
I MADE A COMMITMENT TO CANADIANS TO SHARE WHAT I HEARD.