A local political science professor says he doesn’t think it’s likely electoral reform will end up on the parliamentary agenda.
In 2015, Prime Minster Justin Trudeau campaigned, in part, on ending first past the post federal
St. FX Political Science Professor Jim Bickerton (St. FX Photo)
voting, which has yet to come to pass. This time around, the electoral system helped give the Liberals the win. Jim Bickerton, a political science professor with StFX University, says this doesn’t give the Liberals much of a reason to change the electoral system.
No government in Canadian history has been elected with so small a percentage of the popular vote, noted Bickerton. He said the Liberal’s have a strong minority position and are well ahead of the second place Conservatives in seats, but they only received 33 per cent of the vote and fewer votes than the Conservatives.
Although the result justifies the need for electoral reform, Bickerton says, it’s likely not going to end up on the federal agenda. Bickerton suggests the NDP and Greens will likely push hard on climate change action and pharma-care as their priorities