(Ottawa) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau does not expect his government to reform the electoral system in the short term, despite the fact that members of his party have called for the establishment of a citizens’ assembly non-partisan national forum to examine the issue.
This weekend, members of the Liberal Party voted in favor of a resolution calling on the government to create a national citizens’ assembly on electoral reform.
The proposal notes that the idea has been on the party’s books since 2014 and that Trudeau won the 2015 election on a promise to end the current first-past-the-post system.
Speaking to reporters in London on Sunday, Trudeau said he was focusing more on issues like the economy and climate change, adding he would be open to moving forward with reform. election if there was a consensus around another model.
He also confirmed reports that the NDP tried to fit electoral reform into the deal it struck with the Liberals last year, but the two parties could not agree on the use of a preferential voting system or proportional representation.
Trudeau still favors a ranked ballot, but argues it wouldn’t have been fair to impose that system on Canadians using the majority his government had in the House of Commons from 2015 to 2019.
“Obviously, I have long believed that we should improve our voting system to be able to give citizens the option of expressing their first choice, their second choice and their third choice in their vote during an election”, mentioned Mr. Trudeau, who was in England this weekend for the coronation of King Charles III.
“The reality is that there has never been a consensus around that”, he however immediately nuanced.
He therefore implied that his government had no intention of acting on the resolution adopted by the partisan base of his party.
“I pointed out with our NDP partners that I was open to taking up the issue and bringing a preferential vote, but they made the choice, we all made the choice together, to focus on progressive issues to Canadians.
“As I said, I will always be open to improving the voting system, but I refuse to let just one party do it. We need different parties to agree to make such a significant change, ”said the Prime Minister.