Electoral System Reform, the Canadian Experience

Abstract

A report of the Special Committee on Electoral Reform (ERRE) of the Canadian Parliament was released in December 2016. ERRE, plus local consultations organized by members of Parliament, heard hundreds of witnesses. Many were political scientists. ERRE was created eight months after the 2015 election in which the Liberal Party of Canada, which had been third in the polls when the election was called, unexpectedly won a majority government. It had committed itself to making this the last election under first-past-the-post, a commitment the new prime minister, Justin Trudeau, reiterated upon taking power. This revived an electoral reform movement that had sought—but ultimately failed—to bring about change in the years 2004–2009 in the five provinces where it was on the agenda. Political scientists played an important role in each of the efforts. This latest effort has now met the same fate. This article surveys developments in the earlier round, going on to the present effort. In its conclusion, it asks what the comparative literature on such efforts has to teach us about this experience, and, conversely, what this experience adds to our understanding when and if such efforts can succeed.