OTTAWA – Days after fumbling the rollout of an all-party report on reforming how Canadians vote, the Liberals are giving Canadians 25 days to take part in a lengthy online interactive survey on electoral reform.
The Liberal government is launching what it says is the next phase of its study to reform the voting system — a campaign promise Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has shown signs of backing away from lately — through a new online portal called MyDemocracy.ca.
READ MORE: What Trudeau said: A look back at Liberal promises on electoral reform
The Canadian Press has obtained details of the questions that the government hopes Canadians will answer as it sends postcards today to 15 million households giving details about how to participate online, or by phone if they lack the Internet.
The survey comes after the last week’s flare up in the House of Commons in which Democratic Institutions Minister Maryam Monsef criticized opposition MPs on the electoral reform committee for not doing their jobs.
READ MORE: Maryam Monsef apologizes multiple times for saying electoral reform committee didn’t do their job
Monsef apologized repeatedly, but outrage over her remarks seemed to kneecap any momentum towards finding a new way for Canadians to vote after Trudeau pledged that the 2015 election would be the last one to use the first-past-the-post system.
Opposition MPs on the committee recommended a new proportional voting system, and urged a national referendum to gauge public support for it.
WATCH: Election committee calls for proportional voting, referendum
But in this next phase of public consultations, the word referendum does not appear in any of the 31 questions the government plans to ask Canadians. It also urges respondents to fill out a section to help track their demographic profile. The government has given respondents a Dec. 30 deadline.
READ MORE: What you need to know about proportional representation
The Liberals say MyDemocracy.ca is an “innovative way to join the conversation on electoral reform,” saying the survey will take “only a few minutes.” A paper printoff of the section was more than 30 pages long.
On separate Sunday television talks shows, two opposition MPs — who did not appear to know about this new round of public consultations — repeated accusations that the Liberals are trying to create a system that favours the party.
Monsef roundly rejected the criticism in an interview Sunday, saying the government is determined to give as many Canadians as possible a voice on a complicated but important issue that cuts to core of their democracy.
WATCH: Opposition MPs discuss alternatives to first-past-the-post voting
She acknowledged that the project asks Canadians to do more than “fill a few blanks and to check a few boxes,” saying the survey can be completed in “less than 10 minutes.”
“I know that Canadians are busy, especially this time of the year.”
But the minister seemed to suggest that even if it takes a bit longer, Canadians have a stake in taking the time.
“For our democracy to stay healthy, it’s going to take a two-way relationship between citizens and their government.”
READ MORE: 73% of Canadians want national referendum on electoral reform, poll suggests
The Liberals have signalled repeatedly that their enthusiasm for electoral reform has waned since they won a majority of seats last fall — while winning less than 40 per cent of the popular vote.
Trudeau has suggested that public interest in reform has diminished since the Liberals won power. And Monsef has repeatedly said she’s detected no consensus around any particular voting alternative and has warned that the government won’t proceed without the broad support of Canadians.
“We want to hear from as many Canadians as possible before we come out with legislation, and it’s not easy doing something that hasn’t been done before,” she said.
Monsef would not say what the minimum level of participation needed to make the survey of use.
With files from Joan Bryden
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