OTTAWA — Minister Maryam Monsef,
who was tasked to fulfill the irresponsible election promise of
Justin Trudeau, had to apologize in the Commons Chamber, after she
misrepresented the report of the SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON ELECTORAL REFORM, when
she accused them of shirking their duties and not making the kind of recommendations
her Party wanted.
In her ‘come-down’ backtracking,
she said she used words that she “deeply regrets” and in no way meant to imply
committee members hadn’t worked hard or focused on the task at hand.
Opposition MPs were roused by
Monsef’s dismissive response to the Committee Report, which recommended a Proportional
Voting System, along with a National Referendum.
Monsef wrongly accused the Committee
of failing to give a specific replacement choice, even though its mandate was
to “identify and conduct a study of viable alternate voting systems to replace
the first-past-the-post system.”
We recall that during the 2015
campaign, Trudeau promised that the October election would be the last to take
place under the “first-past-the-post” system, which socialist critics say does not
fully reflect the will of voters.
Trudeau claimed the Committee’s
job was to determine whether there was general consensus among parties on a way
to move forward on electoral change. He said there didn’t seem to be. He was
wrong. There is a clear road, and it is
through a referendum with a multiple-choice ballot that includes the option of keeping
the current system. The governments plan is to introduce
legislation in the spring.
Many have said that the
government should allow Canadians to decide whether or not to change the rules
of their democracy, by using the most democratic method — a referendum, a vote
by the people.
So, what did the Committee actually
say, as compared to what the media says it recommended?
LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS
Recommendation 1
The Committee recommends that the
Government should, as it develops a new electoral system, use the Gallagher
index in order to minimize the level of distortion between the popular will of
the electorate and the resultant seat allocations in Parliament. The government
should seek to design a system that achieves a Gallagher score of 5 or less.
Recommendation 2
The Committee recommends that,
although systems of pure party lists can achieve a Gallagher score of 5 or
less, they should not be considered by the Government as such systems sever the
connection between voters and their MP.
Recommendation 3
The Committee recommends that
mandatory voting not be implemented at this time.
Recommendation 4
The Committee recommends that
online voting not be implemented at this time.
Recommendation 5
The Committee recommends that
Elections Canada explore, in collaboration with relevant stakeholder groups,
the use of technologies to promote greater accessibility of the vote while
ensuring the overall integrity of the voting process.
Recommendation 6
The Committee recommends that the
House of Commons refer the question of how to improve the accessibility of
voting for Canadians with disabilities, while ensuring the overall integrity of
the voting process, to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs.
Recommendation 7
The Committee recommends that any
electoral reform seek to enhance the likelihood of improving voter turnout and
to increase the possibilities for historically disenfranchised and
underrepresented groups (i.e. women, persons with disabilities, Indigenous
peoples, visible minorities, youth, and Canadians of lower economic means) to
be elected. [Note that this recommendation applies to both Chapter 7 and Chapter
8]
Recommendation 8
The Committee recommends that the
Government amend the Canada Elections Act to create a financial incentive (for
example through reimbursement of electoral campaign expenses) for political
parties to run more women candidates and move towards parity in their
nominations.
Recommendation 9
The Committee recommends that,
working with the provinces and territories, the Government explore ways in
which youth under 18 years of age could be registered in the National Register
of Electors, preferably through the school system, up to two years in advance
of reaching voting age.
Recommendation 10
The Committee recommends that the
Government accord Elections Canada the additional mandate, and necessary
resources, to encourage greater voter participation, including through
initiatives such as Civix’s Student Vote, and by better raising awareness among
Canadians of existing options to vote prior to Election Day (voting at an
advance poll, voting by mail, voting at any Elections Canada office).
Recommendation 11
The Committee recommends that
electoral system reform be accompanied by a comprehensive study of the effects
on other aspects of Canada’s “governance ecosystem”, namely:
the relationship between, and
operations of, the legislative and executive branches of government;
the relationship between, and
operations of, the House of Commons and the Senate;
parliamentary procedure and
conventions related to government formation and dismissal;
the impact on the operations of
political parties.
Recommendation 12
Observation: The Committee
acknowledges that, of those who wanted change, the overwhelming majority of
testimony was in favour of proportional representation. The Committee
recognizes the utility of the Gallagher Index, a tool that has been developed
to measure an electoral system’s relative disproportionality between votes
received and seats allotted in a legislature, as a means of assessing the
proportionality of different electoral system options.
The Committee recommends that:
The Government hold a
referendum, in which the current system is on the ballot;
That the referendum propose a
proportional electoral system that achieves a Gallagher Index score of 5 or
less; and
That the Government complete
the design of the alternate electoral system that is proposed on the referendum
ballot prior to the start of the referendum campaign period. .
Recommendation 13
The Committee recommends that
Elections Canada should produce and make available to the public materials
describing any option, including maps depicting potential electoral district
boundaries applicable under that option and sample ballot design, prior to the
start of the referendum campaign period.
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