Electoral reform is the issue that won’t die, but won’t live long either

by David Korzinski | November 22, 2019 1:44 pm

By Shachi Kurl, Executive Director

It’s baaaaaack. Like the zombies of big screen and small, shuffling with not-quite-living but very much un-dead energy into the national debate post-election – determined to eat our brains once more – the spectre of electoral reform has returned.

Just when we thought the issue was dormant, it has been awakened by one of the closest election outcomes in Canadian history. Likely motivated by their preferred party receiving the most votes but falling short in the House of Commons in a first-past-the-post electoral system, Conservative voters now show a preference for proportional representation that has more than doubled – from less than 30 per cent in early 2016 to almost 70 per cent now, according to new data from the Angus Reid Institute[1].

They aren’t the only ones hungering for change. There’s been an increase in support straight across the political spectrum, albeit most anemically among those who voted Liberal (hardly surprisingly given the Liberals picked up 47 per cent of the seats in the House of Commons with just one-third of the popular vote). Yet even among Liberal fans, 55 per cent now favour proportional representation.

For the rest of this piece, please view it on the Ottawa Citizen’s site[2] where it was initially published.

Endnotes:
  1. new data from the Angus Reid Institute: http://angusreid.org/electoral-reform-trend/
  2. Ottawa Citizen’s site: https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/columnists/kurl-electoral-reform-is-the-issue-that-wont-die-but-wont-live-long-either

Source URL: https://angusreid.org/electoral-reform-is-the-issue-that-wont-die-but-wont-live-long-either/