The federal Liberals’ announcement that they are pulling back their promise of electoral reform is not sitting well with some Reginans.
“For the government to just simply dismiss all that work and all that effort, and all the points of view expressed by so many Canadians it’s really disappointing,” Lee Ward said.
Ward is an associate professor of political science at Campion College.
He took part in a series of cross-country discussions hosted by the electoral reform committee, which complied a 300-plus page report on the topic.
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Many people who were talked to have a similar view to Ward; Canada should adopt a form of proportional representation and a referendum should be held.
In a proportional representation system, the base meaning is if you get 30 per cent of the vote, you get 30 per cent of the seats.
Ward says the government should be proud of the initial report, but has issues with how questions were asked in the online My Democracy survey.
“Specific reform proposals were neglected, but rather these very vague generalities about what kind of system would you like. Would you like where people work together? Would you like one where the government has less power or more power?” Ward said.
“When Canadians are presented with specific proposals then you can focus your mind and make an intelligent choice.”
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On Wednesday, new Democratic Institutions Minister Karina Gould said that the broad support needed for a change of this magnitude doesn’t exist.
Following the announcement others were quick to voice their frustration to Regina-Wascana MP Ralph Goodale on Twitter.
“I’ve lost trust in this government. I won’t believe anything they say until I see it done now,” Klein said.
Klein also made a presentation to the electoral reform committee when they were in Regina. While he didn’t vote Liberal in the last election, he is disappointed in the move.
“Trudeau’s really given credence that governments don’t have to do what they say in their campaign promises, and that’s awful for trust in the government,” Klein said.
Others shared Klein’s point of view on Twitter.
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