Trudeau government abandons promise of electoral reform

Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government is abandoning a commitment to reform the federal electoral system.

A new mandate letter issued to Minister of Democratic Institutions Karina Gould says “changing the electoral system will not be in your mandate.”

​”There has been tremendous work by the House of Commons Special Committee on Electoral Reform, outreach by Members of Parliament by all parties, and engagement of 360,000 individuals in Canada through mydemocracy.ca,” Trudeau writes in his letter to Gould.

“A clear preference for a new electoral system, let alone a consensus, has not emerged. Furthermore, without a clear preference or a clear question, a referendum would not be in Canada’s interest. Changing the electoral system will not be in your mandate.”

Gould was appointed minister last month, replacing Maryam Monsef.

“Our view has always been clear. Major reforms to the electoral system, changes of this magnitude should not be made if they lack the broad support of Canadians,” Gould told reporters at a news conference convened to comment on her new mandate letter.

“It has become evident that the broad support needed among Canadians for a change of this magnitude does not exist.”

Trudeau first committed to replacing the current first-past-the-post electoral system in June 2015, shortly before the federal election campaign. His government’s first throne speech then promised that the Liberals would “take action to ensure that 2015 will be the last federal election conducted under the first-past-the-post voting system.”

A special committee of the House of Commons was struck last June and all MPs were invited to hold town hall meetings on electoral reform. In addition, Monsef conducted her own national tour and launched an online survey about the Canadian political system.

When the committee returned its final report to the House in December, a majority of members recommended calling a referendum on some form of proportional representation.

“The past year was an incredible important conversation that we had with Canadians,” Gould said. “We took the time, we consulted and we listened. And now we’re moving forward with a plan that respects all of those contributions. I thank everybody who participated.

“It is a difficult conversation to talk about how we govern ourselves. But we have listened to Canadians and this will not be part of my mandate.”