Update 06/02:

We have big news!  Within hours of launching this petition over 13 000 people signed up, and the Liberals responded by agreeing to give up their majority on the committee!  [1]

This is a big win. It means that no one party can control the process of picking a new voting system – and at least two parties will have to cooperate to pick the best system for Canada. Let’s encourage this kind of cooperation. The motion won’t be officially passed until next week, so keep signing to let the government know we support their move to make the committee fair! 

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Here’s the deal: a few weeks ago the Liberals announced their plan to create a committee to recommend a new voting system.  There was one big problem: the government gave themselves six voting seats on the committee, while the opposition only got four voting seats. That meant the government would have total control over the result.

Now there’s a motion being debated TODAY (Thursday, June 2) to change the committee so the opposition parties get more seats.[2] If it passes it means parties will have to cooperate to pick the best voting system for Canada.

The government has been widely criticized for their decision to control the committee. If we can show MPs that thousands of Canadians want a fair voting reform committee then we could persuade them to vote yes on this motion, and get the voting reform process back on track.

Can you sign and share this urgent petition calling on MPs to vote yes to a fair voting reform committee?

The government may be open to changing the committee, but they control a majority of seats in the House, so there are no guarantees.[3] That’s why we have to act quickly to show them that we want a fair process for voting reform.

Back in March we surveyed the Leadnow community and found 76% were in favour ofa proposal like the one being debated today. The Leadnow community has clearly stated that they think all parties should weigh in on our new voting system – and that’s just why we have to speak up now.

We have an opportunity to fix this committee and have a more fair and democratic consultation on voting reform – but we have to act today.

Sources:

[1] Liberals back down on electoral reform committee, support NDP changes (CBC):  http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/wherry-electoral-reform-committee-1.3612377 

 

[2]  NDP introduce electoral reform motion (iPolitics): http://ipolitics.ca/2016/06/01/ndp-introduce-electoral-reform-motion/

 

[3] Monsef hints at openness to change voting reform committee (The Star): https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/05/31/monsef-hints-at-openness-to-change-voting-reform-committee.html