Democracy

Here’s where the parties stand on Senate reform and other issues of democratic governance.

The Conservatives promise to:

place a moratorium on new Senate appointments in an effort to pressure the provinces to accept reforms to the upper chamber or abolish it;

■ introduce legislation that would require Canadians’ approval in a national referendum before any changes could be made to the first-pastthe-post electoral system. (The Tories themselves are not proposing any such changes.)

The NDP promises to:

■ replace the current first-past-the-post electoral system with a mixed member proportional system, which combines proportional representation of parties in House of Commons with the direct election of an MP in each riding;

■ abolish the Senate (which requires constitutional talks with the provinces);

■ strengthen the mandate and independence of the Parliamentary Budget Officer and make the position an Officer of Parliament.

The Liberals promise to:

■ introduce changes to strengthen Access to Information and ensure this applies to the PMO and ministers’ offices;

■ create a quarterly, more detailed parliamentary expense report, and open up the secretive House of Commons Board of Internal Economy;

■ create a non-partisan, independent process for advising the prime minister on Senate appointments;

■ allow more time for questions and answers during Question Period, and introduce a prime minister’s Question Period;

■ ban partisan government ads and appoint an Advertising Commissioner to help the Auditor General provide oversight;

■ eliminate the first-pastthe-post voting system.

The Greens promise to:

■ eliminate first-past-thepost system;

■ end “whipped” votes in the Commons (in which the party tells MPs how to vote).

■ discourage patronage by establishing an independent agency for appointments.