Liberals never wanted to “make every vote count.”… Electoral reform has become a bonbon offered at election. As far back as 1919, Liberals have campaigned on the promise of proportional representation
Broken trust on electoral reform
Mark Carney’s position on electoral reform: “open”. However…
Only the Greens / NDP consistently support proportional representation.
His public persona is that he is intelligent. But when asked specifically about electoral reform and proportional representation, he says he’s uncertain and open to exploring options? Why would someone as smart as him be uncertain about ensuring every vote counts?
This is the correct response for an "intelligent person" that doesn't know all the facts about the situation. I hope he can resist the siren's song of corporate cash and we get PR, but Im not going to fault the guy for saying he's not sure about something.
Im not going to fault the guy for saying he’s not sure about something.
Well, that's the question, is it true that he doesn't know about Canada's broken electoral system? I don't think so, that's why I highlighted the mathematics of electoral systems and economics.
Even if it is true that he doesn't know, the Liberal party's history on proportional representation is damning. We should assume status quo, because there is no reason to believe otherwise.
I agree. I think it's a hedge that was calculated to give him room to let the LPC do its usual "run left, govern right" bullshit.
He knows full well that PR would diminish the power of the ruling party and force more coalition building (which the party obviously does not want), and it's historically been enough for the technocrats that it's their guy running the show 50% of the time.
Yep, that's right.
All the historical evidence points to Liberals not supporting proportional representation. Mark Carney is not marketing himself as anybody that is coming in to shake things up, and there is no reason to believe that he will bring in proportional representation.
And with Carney's suggestion to remove carbon pricing (against economists' strong recommendations), whose side is he really on? (I know carbon pricing is deeply unpopular, but the math works out).
Look. Everyone loves Mark Carney right now. Just like they loved Trudeau in the beginning. But lobbies control the party and it won't be long before Carney bends to their will. Just like Trudeau did. And we'll never get what Carney said he would do.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again:
Only the Greens / NDP consistently support proportional representation.
I want proportional representation for Canada, but why would you expect an intelligent person to know everything? Most of us, intelligent or not, have a fairly narrow field of expertise.
I'll give him the benefit of the doubt for now. It's not like election reform is part of his campaign platform
why would you expect an intelligent person to know everything?
I don't, but I expect the Prime Minister designate to know about the issues facing our country, and I would expect anybody serious to easily support the principle that every vote should count.
It's honestly not a tall order.
I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt for now
There's far too much deference to the benefit of the doubt, when the Liberal's track record has shown everything suggesting they don't care about proportional representation. We should assume status quo until there is evidence to the contrary - of which there has been none.
It’s not like election reform is part of his campaign platform
Unless voters like you and me are willing to make it an election issue.
If we assume he knows what there's to know about the pros and cons of the most common electoral systems (he might not), and if we assume he's serious when he says we need to do huge changes to the country at a breakneck speed, and if he believes he can get a majority in a snap election, changing the electoral system would be at the very end of those changes. Reason being that PR would make it harder for him to do those changes. If he's resolved to change the electoral system, that'll come at the end of his term. Even if he was going good faith about it.