Long is the list of promises Justin Trudeau and the Liberals have written on their path to a majority government.
But one Canadians are most eager to hold him to is the promise that we’ve had our last election with the first-past-the-post system. Conventional wisdom is that the party in power is always least motivated to change the system that got them there.
While the Liberals certainly have a mandate to scrap first-past-the-post, exactly what they will change it to isn’t clear. The Liberals pledged to form an all-party parliamentary committee to review the pros and cons of alternative electoral systems before making a decision.
A system of straight proportional representation (which the Liberals have not promised) would likely mean the end of majority governments in Canada. No party has won more than 51 per cent of the popular vote since 1958, and that was before the existence of the Bloc or Green Party. For all its faults, the first-past-the-post system does produce stability.
Other methods, like transferable votes, ranked ballots or runoff elections tend to enshrine strategic voting, which typically benefits centrist parties. If they go this route, the Liberals will open themselves up to accusations they are legislating themselves a permanent place in power.
It is clear that Canadians would like to see a parliament that is more reflective of their views. However, monkeying with the architecture of our democracy is a serious task, especially when you consider Canada’s political landscape, and so we expect Canadians will be consulted heavily along the way.
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