Liberals back down on electoral reform committee, support NDP changes
The Liberal government has agreed to support, with amendments, an NDP motion that gives no one party a majority of seats on a committee to study electoral reform.
At the NDP's suggestion, seats on the committee would be allotted proportionally according to the popular vote in last year's federal election. The 12-member committee will thus be composed of five Liberals, three Conservatives, two New Democrats, one member of the Bloc Québécois and Green MP Elizabeth May.
That counters a Liberal proposal that would have based the committee, like all other committees of the House of Commons, on the current seat count, with six Liberals, three Conservatives and one New Democrat (the Liberals also proposed that one member of the Bloc and May could have non-voting seats on the committee).
The Liberals had been criticized for trying to give themselves a majority of the committee's seats, essentially basing the committee on the first-past-the-post voting system that the government is committed to replacing.
NDP MP Nathan Cullen publicly suggested the NDP's preferred design in February, but the Liberals did not show interest and instead tabled their own proposal last month, before backing down today.
Liberals back down on electoral reform committee, support NDP changes - Politics - CBC News
Although neither the party nor the government has taken an official position, the Liberals are widely thought to be leaning towards a ranked or preferential ballot system, while the New Democrats and Green parties have long pushed for full proportional representation.
Meanwhile, the Conservatives could find themselves in an unlikely and potentially politically awkward alliance with the Bloc Quebecois, currently the only other party at the table that has come out in favour of the status quo
Kady O’Malley: Liberals back NDP idea for electoral reform committee, giving up majority control
Love the silence here.
In the real world the Cons are accusing NDP and Libs of a backroom deal :lol:
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters that he took to heart complaints that his government was behaving in a way that resembled the “previous government.”
“We saw clearly that the approach was raising questions in the minds of many Canadians and indeed opposition parties,” Trudeau said during a press conference in Ottawa.
Liberals Wave White Flag On Electoral Reform Committee
“Today is about us demonstrating that we continue to be committed to our promise to listen to Canadians,” Monsef said. “We recognize that good ideas come from all parties. We recognize that Canadians expect us to cooperate and collaborate.”
That’s the sort of honeyed talk that generally prompts eye-rolling around Parliament Hill. But it’s hard to deny the potency of a majority government voluntarily diluting its power on such a key committee. That’s not how Ottawa usually works. “The impetus for all of this is to get the conversation beyond one on process and for the committee to begin its work of hearing from all Canadians,” Monsef said when asked why the Liberals bowed to NDP pressure. “That is our motive for all this.”
MACLEANS: A surprise turn for Canada’s debate on electoral reform
Do you think the new electoral reform committee will create change? | rabble.ca
Reacting to the surprising news on Thursday that the Liberals will support, with a few amendments, the NDP’s motion on the establishment of an electoral reform committee, Conservative MP Scott Reid described the development as a “backroom deal” and announced they’d be voting against it.
What the party’s democratic reform critic didn’t say was whether they’d participate in a committee they won’t be able to prevent from forming. Caught completely off- guard by the sudden turn of events, the Conservatives now appear to be scrambling to figure out their next steps.
Do they participate in a committee they think is illegitimate and thereby give it legitimacy? Or do they boycott the entire process?
Tories furious about ‘backroom’ electoral reform deal
