Electoral reform a must

Re Troubling noises on electoral reform, Letter

Oct. 24 Letter writer John Mowat Steven says you can win a majority government in the first-past-the-post system with as little as 39 per cent of the votes cast. In fact, all you need is 50 per cent plus one of the votes in 50 per cent plus one of the ridings, or about 26 per cent of the votes.

So why would either of the two main parties want to change this system? Max Williams, Brampton

The idea that Canadians could be less in favour of electoral reform because they like the current government better than the last is head-bangingly bonkers.

At both my riding’s ER town hall and the ER committee’s meeting in Toronto the support for reforming our system was obvious; at times it was literally deafening. As was the disdain for the current system, and the visible disgust at the concept of trying to block any reform with a referendum when such a thing is not required, for example, to send our children to war.

Mark Holland, the parliamentary secretary for democratic institutions, said it right: the principles we are looking for are clear. I’m confident that when the time comes, the committee will agree. Jordan Winters, Scarborough