Liberals ‘sorry, not sorry’ for abandoning electoral reform promise

OTTAWA – On Tuesday, Liberal MPs voted down an NDP motion calling on the government to apologize for abandoning its promise to reform Canada’s outdated and unfair voting system.

“This was a black and white promise repeated hundreds of times and as recently as two months ago,” said Nathan Cullen, NDP Critic for Electoral Reform. “The Prime Minister said it was his decision to make, the least he could do is take responsibility and apologize for this betrayal.”

Since the Liberals announced their intention to halt any reform two weeks ago, an e-petition urging the government to keep its promise has become the most signed petition on Parliament’s website with 115,000 signatures. This weekend Canadians from across the country participated in rallies in 27 cities to denounce the Liberal broken promise.

“Liberals are saying to Canadians, sorry, but they’re not sorry, for breaking a major promise,” said Alexandre Boulerice, Deputy Critic for Democratic Reform. “The willingness of Liberals to abandon a promise that helped them get elected is the best argument for why we need electoral reform.”

Not a single Liberal MP had the courage to support the NDP motion even though a handful had written letters sympathizing with their constituents who are angry over the government’s betrayal.