The Council of Canadians Fredericton chapter was at the Special Committee on Electoral Reform hearing in their city today.
Five chapter activists attended the hearing, including Maggie Connell and Margo Sheppard who presented in support of proportional representation.
Earlier today CBC reported, “New Brunswickers will have the opportunity to make presentations to the special parliamentary committee when it holds its last hearings in Fredericton Friday. …Fredericton MP Matt DeCourcey says the House of Commons special committee on electoral reform has heard a diversity of views on electoral reform over the past three weeks.”
During the last federal election, the Liberals promised, “We will make every vote count. We are committed to ensuring that 2015 will be the last federal election conducted under the first-past-the-post voting system. We will convene an all-party Parliamentary committee to review a wide variety of reforms, such as ranked ballots, proportional representation, mandatory voting, and online voting. This committee will deliver its recommendations to Parliament. Within 18 months of forming government, we will introduce legislation to enact electoral reform.”
Following the October 19, 2015 election, our Guelph, Nelson, Penticton, London, Peel and Peterborough chapters met with their newly-elected MPs to express their support for proportional representation. Since then, our Northwest Territories, Peterborough, Quill Plains (Wynyard), Regina, Thunder Bay, and Montreal chapters attended consultations held by the federal Minister of Democratic Institutions Maryam Monsef. The Calgary chapter attended a town hall held by their MP on this issue, while the Brandon-Westman and Comox Valley chapters organized their own events.
Winnipeg-based Council of Canadians organizer Brigette DePape attended the town hall meeting with Monsef in Winnipeg.
And along with the Fredericton chapter, the Prince Albert and Northwest Territories chapter also presented to this parliamentary committee.
The Special Committee on Electoral Reform will be presenting its report to the House of Commons on December 1. The Liberals have set a deadline of May 2017 to introduce legislation on electoral reform. That’s when we will see what they will put forward in terms of their election promise to look at “ranked ballots, proportional representation, mandatory voting, and online voting”.
The next federal election is scheduled to take place on October 21, 2019.
