Broken promise on electoral reform could threaten Liberal majority

OTTAWA – Recent polls conducted in 20 swing ridings, currently held by Liberals, found that more than 70% of respondents want the government to keep its campaign promise to reform Canada’s outdated and unfair voting system.

“While cynical politicians have tried to say Canadians don’t care about improving their democracy, the evidence shows people overwhelmingly want the Liberals to keep this important promise.” said Nathan Cullen, NDP Critic for Democratic Reform. “This is true in ridings from coast to coast.”

Across the country, there are high levels of support to replace the current voting system with one that ensures ‘every vote counts’. This includes the ridings of: Halifax, Nova Scotia (74%), Davenport in west-end Toronto (72%) and Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge in British Columbia (73%).

“This matches what I’m hearing on the ground and it mirrors the consensus found by the all-party Electoral Reform committee as it traveled the country,” said Cullen whose current cross-country #KeepYourPromise tour was launched after a record 130,000 Canadians signed a petition urging the Liberals to honour their commitment. “With the final vote coming this spring, these MPs must be accountable to the voters who elected them.”

All 20 ridings surveyed were electoral gains in 2015 for the Liberal Party. If the Liberals lose 15 or more seats in the next election they will not be able to maintain a majority government. In all, 15,000 Canadians were randomly sampled for the survey.