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www.reformact.ca

Citizens are watching to see how parties handle this bill. Fair Vote Canada encourages all parties to weigh in on the side of citizens and democracy.

Canadians have turned away en masse from a political system that no longer represents them. The concentration of power in the PMO plays a role in the depletion of trust in our democracy. But there is a glimmer of hope with the introduction of Michael Chong’s private members’ bill that aims to limit the uncompromising control of the Prime Minister and return power to MPs and the constituents who voted for them.

In the spirit of democracy, we believe all candidates should be democratically nominated by their riding associations not appointed by the leader or subject to his veto.

Fair Vote Canada calls on all leaders to embrace the spirit of Mr. Chong’s democratic reform bill and to put the interest of Canadian democracy at the centre of this decision. We appreciate the efforts made by Justin Trudeau and Craig Scott for reaching out to MP Michael Chong to discuss his bill. Working across party lines may be breaking news in Canada, but is the norm in countries with proportional representation. Canadians are tired of hyper-partisanship and political grandstanding. They want to see parties work together to improve democracy and put Canadians first.”

Fair Vote Canada does have questions about one point in the bill — giving the caucus power to remove the leader and appoint a new interim leader. Today, all caucuses are unrepresentative of the electorate, since Canada’s skewed winner-take-all system produces MPs only from parties’ strongholds. Parties currently have provisions in their constitutions for the removal of the leader and election of an interim leader, rules that require broader, more democratic support within the party membership.

Fair Vote Canada (FVC) is a grassroots, multi-partisan citizens’ campaign for voting system reform. FVC promotes the introduction of an element of proportional representation in elections at all levels of government and in civil society.

Doug Bailie, President
Fair Vote Canada

www.reformact.ca

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