Members of Parliament debated a new motion set forward by the Nanaimo-Ladysmith MP to create a national citizens’ assembly on electoral reform.
NDP MP Lisa Marie Barron held a series of town hall meetings in recent weeks to hear thoughts and ideas about her motion, and on Tuesday, Nov. 7, MPs from across the country debated the topic and asked questions in the House of Commons.
Barron believes the assembly would give citizens a leadership role in agreeing on a new model for elections to replace the current first-past-the-post system, which has been used since 1867.
“We know the way in which Canadians elect their representatives matter, and the impacts are felt by all Canadians,” she said. “We’re living with the impacts of a climate crisis, more and more people are struggling to get by and to have good, healthy food on the table, a place to call home, and an income that pays the bill. Canadians no longer have time to wait for those who represent them to take real action.”
READ MORE: Nanaimo-Ladysmith MP bringing back electoral reform debate
She said a citizens’ assembly would ensure Canada’s “democracy is strong” by looking at how votes are counted, reviewing voting age and access to online voting, and ensuring the country’s demographics are equitably represented in federal politics.
In the House of Commons, only 30 per cent of MPs are women despite being over 50 per cent of Canada’s population, and only 2.4 per cent identify as black and 3.3 per cent as Indigenous.
There has been a consistently decreasing voter turnout since 1988, which Barron attributes to the first-past-the-post system as she said Canadians don’t feel their votes will be properly represented in the House. The system also leads people to vote strategically against the party they don’t like, rather than vote for the party that best represents their values.
She said in the last two elections, the Liberals got “100 per cent of the power with only 39 per cent of the vote.”
Chandra Arya, a Liberal MP from Ontario, argued that in his riding and his colleagues’ ridings, their turnout has been over 70 per cent in the last three elections and Canada “has been one of the best countries in every single measurable index in the world.”
Barron replied that she agreed that Canada has a strong democracy, but there is always room for improvement, and added that members of the Liberal Party voted in support of electoral reform at their convention this past spring.
Bloc Québécois MP Martin Champoux said he would vote in favour of the motion, but added there are many other reasons women and other unrepresented demographics aren’t involved in politics, including “the way we do politics, and we might need to dig deeper in order to attract more [unrepresented demographics].”
Barron agreed with Champoux, and said electoral reform is a “piece of a bigger solution” and she is “working on other components as well.”
Scott Reid, member of the Conservative Party, said the proposal was “half right and half wrong,” and he would vote against it. He said he agrees that the assembly could play a useful role in offering one or more alternatives to the current electoral system, but he felt it was not appropriate to ask a citizens’ assembly to “determine if electoral reform is recommended for Canadians.” He believes that Canadians should make the determination through a referendum, citing past instances in B.C. and Ontario where citizens’ assemblies recommended several options for electoral systems, then referenda were held. Barron’s motion makes no suggestion of a referendum.
There will be a second hour of debate in the coming weeks and then the motion will come to a vote.
bailey.seymour@nanaimobulletin.com
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