Today, the new Minister of Democratic Institutions, Karina Gould, announced that the Liberal government has officially abandoning the objective of electoral reform. Thus, notwithstanding the promise that 2015 would be the “last federal election conducted under the first-past-the-post system” made during the 2015 electoral campaign, Canada will be faced with more elections which permit very small percentages of the voting public to put in place electoral majorities.
Category Archives: Election
How NOT to Achieve a New Electoral Process
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The Minister of Democratic Institutions, Maryam Monsef, has announced the creation of a special committee to investigate and oversee what sort of electoral process should be adopted in time for the next federal election, currently slated for 2019. In my view, the committee approach she is using is fraught with problems. No matter how “good” its recommendations may be, they will be viewed as the product of a Liberal government-biased committee and will not bear the hallmark of impartial legitimacy that any electoral process must have.
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Electoral reform for Canada – to have or not to have a referendum?
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Recently, there have been increasing cries for the Liberal government to hold a referendum on any new electoral system. On the CBC News website today, there is a report on a poll conducted by Insight West which found that nearly two thirds of Canadians polled considered that there should be a referendum on any new system of voting. But would this be a good way to decide upon such an issue?
Does the demise of the press present a constitutional issue for our democracy?
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In today’s Globe and Mail, Lawrence Martin has underscored the “crisis in journalism”. His opinion piece, “A crisis that cries out for a public inquiry”, presents an important question about the state of the “fourth establishment” and its role in democratic government. He describes the root of the problem as follows:
Today, we have a crisis in the journalism industry unprecedented in scope. A media implosion. Newspapers being reduced to digital editions, large numbers losing their jobs, circulation falling, ad revenues plunging, near monopoly ownership of big-city dailies, the old business model in a state of collapse.
He goes on to observe that “it’s a joke to think that a healthy democracy can be restored given the continuing depletion of the one industry that holds business and government to account”. He asks “[i]f traditional print journalism cannot be sustained, what fills the void?” Good question.
A Liberal majority government – what constitutional issues will it face?
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I do not think that anyone forecast a Liberal majority of the magnitude that swept the country last night. Sixty-eight and a half percent of eligible Canadian electors voted last night. Prime Minister-elect Justin Trudeau said that Canadians wanted “change – real change”. I think he is right. But what sort of change will that include and will it involve constitutional issues? The answer I think is “yes”. I will touch upon only four issues which require constitutional review or involves constitutional values.
Election 2015 – our constitution at work…
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On October 19, 2015, Canada goes to the polls. The hurly burly of the Canadian version of democracy has been on display since early August when Prime Minister Stephen Harper asked the Governor General to dissolve Parliament and to call this election. What many of us do not appreciate is that this spectacle is probably one of the best examples of our constitution at work.
The Governor General – will he be playing a bigger constitutional role after October 19th?
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It is almost exactly one month to Election Day in Canada and the party leaders have been making all sorts of statements with a view to garnering sufficient votes to form the next government. Some of their statements, however, have had constitutional implications. In today’s Globe & Mail, Professor Eric Adams of University of Alberta has presented a quick summary of the leaders’ misconceptions as to who gets to form a government in the event there is no one party with a majority in the House of Commons. His article, “Minority Governments: The constitutional rules of the game” outlines how Conservative leader Stephen Harper, NDP leader Tom Mulcair and Liberal leader Justin Trudeau all get it wrong when it comes time to articulating the rules for formation of government.
Constitutionally Canadian 