On February 7, Parliament voted on Motion M-86 for a National Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform. The result was:
YES 101
NO 220
In addition to the support of the NDP, Green Party and Bloc MPs, 40 Liberals and 3 Conservatives voted for the motion. To see how your MP voted, scroll to the bottom of this email.
While it’s extremely disappointing that not enough MPs voted for Motion M-86 to see it pass, achieving so much support from MPs from every party is a testament to the perseverance, determination and hard work of volunteers across the country.
Constituents visited MPs in their offices to talk about Motion M-86 and to ask for their support. Many of persisted for months to obtain those appointments, which were critical to building momentum for the Motion.
Constituents knocked on doors and stood on street corners in bitter temperatures to collect signatures on a petition urging their own MPs to vote for Motion M-86.
Volunteers called almost 21,000 supporters in the phone bank to ask them to phone their own MPs in support of Motion M-86.
A 2022 EKOS poll showed strong public support for a National Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform. Trustworthy, non-partisan organizations including the Council of Canadians, Samara Centre for Democracy, Generation Squeeze and Apathy is Boring backed this campaign.
While the result of today’s vote isn’t what we dreamed of, support for action on electoral reform is growing.
In 2017, after Justin Trudeau slammed the door on electoral reform claiming “no consensus”, only two Liberal MPs voted in Parliament to even continue the conversation on electoral reform.
With entrenched political interests barricading the doors, many Canadians lost hope.
The campaign for a National Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform is changing that.
This motion has sparked a crucial conversation between our MPs about how we can move forward together.
We all know that our democracy is under strain. We’ve all seen the dangerous levels of partisan hostility, inside and outside Parliament. We don’t want to risk giving any leader 100% of the power with 39% of the vote.
It’s more important than ever that we keep pushing for action. Canadians who want electoral reform aren’t going away – we’re only getting stronger.