Ontario political leaders remain silent on a fair referendum process (September 7, 2006)

As the 103 members of the Ontario Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform ready themselves for their first meeting on September 9-10, the Premier and opposition leaders remain silent on a key element of the reform process.

“Again, we commend Premier McGuinty for honouring his election commitment to convene this historic Citizens’ Assembly.Ontario is only the second jurisdiction in the world to have an independent citizen-driven electoral reform process,” said Joe Murray, Chair of the Fair Vote Ontario campaign. “But neither the Premier nor opposition leaders have announced their commitment to accepting a majority decision by Ontario voters in an electoral reform referendum.”

If the Citizens’ Assembly recommends a new voting system, that recommendation will go to a referendum, expected to be held in conjunction with the October 4, 2007 provincial election.

“In two other provinces where similar referendums were held, the premiers said they would ‘let the people decide’, then raised the bar, setting unprecedented referendum threshold requirements for enactment,” said Murray.

In British Columbia and PEI, the government set a double-super-majority threshold, requiring 60 per cent support, plus majority support in 60 per cent of the ridings. Before those two events, there had been no provincial or federal referendum or plebiscite in Canadian history requiring anything other than a simple majority.

“In BC, a solid majority of nearly 58 per cent voted yes for electoral reform, but a government being returned with only 46 per cent support said that wasn’t good enough,” said Murray.

In June, New Brunswick Premier Bernard Lord announced a provincial electoral reform referendum in 2008, assuming his re-election, and stated he would accept a simple majority decision because that is “the traditional number for democratic decisions.”

The all-party Ontario Select Committee on Electoral Reform recommended that a simple majority decision be used in Ontario, but with the additional requirement of majority support in two-thirds of Ontario’s ridings.

Murray noted that adding that requirement, because of the significant differences in the number of voters in Ontario ridings, could allow as few as 14 per cent of the voters to stop a reform that is supported by a significant majority (figure based on voter turnout in the last provincial election).

“We urge Premier McGuinty, Official Opposition Leader John Tory, and Ontario NDP Leader Howard Hampton to follow Bernard Lord’s example and do the right thing. If a majority of Ontarians want reform, so be it. If the majority wants the status quo, so be it. Do not say you will ‘let the people speak’ and then set conditions where a minority of voters can veto democratic reform for everyone,” Murray said.