Sudden unity might make voting reform happen

For reasons known only to it, the Liberal government plans on asking Canadians – via postcards mailed to their homes – to run off to their computers and fill in an online survey about electoral reform. Consultation is good, very good, of course. But many think there’s a better way to do this: hold a referendum.

We bring up the “R” word because, this week, it’s suddenly the fashion on Parliament Hill. NDP democratic reform critic Nathan Cullen and colleague Alexandre Boulerice announced Wednesday that the New Democrats are now “open” to a national referendum on electoral reform if that’s what it takes to achieve consensus among MPs on the special committee that has spent months studying changes to how Canadians vote.

An overwhelming percentage of experts who appeared before the committee favoured some form of Proportional Representation, Cullen said. The results of individual MP townhalls yielded the same desire for change, he continued, then added that how these views are validated “is incredibly important.”

That last bit must have put a smile on the faces of the federal Conservatives, who, confronted with the Liberal government’s campaign promise to do away with our First-Past-the-Post voting system by the next election, have been clamouring since Day One for a referendum on any proposed changes. Tory MP Scott Reid, his party’s expert on such matters, recently penned a thoughtful six-page letter to his colleagues on the special committee, summarizing their positions on electoral change and on a referendum. His conclusion: “I am confident that an all-party consensus is entirely possible.”

With both the NDP and the Conservatives now appearing to agree on some key ideas around electoral reform, it suddenly feels like the committee might produce recommendations that are both substantive and coherent, rather than writing clashing reports.

Whether this unity of purpose will hearten or alarm the Liberal government is unclear, though. Pressed for her position, Democratic Institutions Minister Maryam Monsef this week simply repeated the mantra “We have been committed to this file since we began our mandate” and defended the postcard-to-internet survey the Grits plan. In a letter to the committee, she said her own cross-Canada consultations have found “no consensus” among Canadians about what a future voting system should look like.

At this point, even Canadians who don’t care how we elect politicians should pay attention. Consensus from the committee on electoral reform could force the issue of a referendum onto the calendar.

You could be voting, about voting, much sooner than you think.

For more on electoral reform, visit our website: ottawacitizen.com/tag/electoral-reform