Update on Electoral Reform – Disappointment in Parliament

Dear Friends and Supporters of Electoral Reform, A disappointment in Parliament on Wednesday, when the Liberals used their majority to defeat a motion to accept recommendations from the Special Committee on Electoral Reform. It was a slim majority in a vote of 159-146, with two courageous Liberal MPs Nathaniel Eskine-Smith and Sean Casey voting with integrity ...

Parliament: Asking the Minister of Democratic Institutions to keep the conversation going on electoral reform

Elizabeth May Mr. Speaker, to clarify, the committee report on electoral reform did not contain any dissent from the New Democrats or the Greens. We filed a supplemental report in support of the recommendations. In support of those recommendations, within the hour, I am certainly hoping that many MPs, in fact most of us, will ...

Underscoring the importance of electoral reform and significance of the Special Committee’s report

Elizabeth May Madam Speaker, I am so proud to participate in today’s very important debate. I am also very proud of our report, the Special Committee on Electoral Reform’s report entitled “Strengthening Democracy in Canada: Principles, Processes and Public Engagement for Electoral Reform”. We worked very hard on this report. There were 12 of us, ...

Dissecting the Prime Minister’s excuses for ditching his promise of fair voting

Dissecting the Prime Minister’s excuses for ditching his promise of fair voting February 16, 2017 Elizabeth May I t was a massive blow to my faith in Trudeau’s good intentions when he re-wrote the mandate letter to the Minister of Democratic Institutions to remove the responsibility for bringing in a new voting system. Since then, ...

Media Release: Canadians rally from coast to coast to hold Trudeau to electoral reform promise

Canadians joined rallies in cities from coast to coast today to demand that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau honour his promise on electoral reform. Elizabeth May, spoke at the Reform the Vote rally in Victoria, B.C., attended by hundreds. Rallies took place in nearly 30 communities including Vancouver, Whitehorse, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Halifax, ...

Parliament: Question on Electoral Reform during Adjournment Proceedings

Elizabeth May: Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in adjournment proceedings this evening to return to a question I originally asked on February 1. The House will recall, because we have spent today discussing the subject of electoral reform, that it was on February 1 that the Prime Minister changed the mandate letter to ...

Parliament: Speech on the Government’s Commitments Regarding Electoral Reform

Elizabeth May: Madam Speaker, I rise today and want to begin by acknowledging that we are on the unceded territory of the Algonquin of Golden Lake. We say meegwetch. Before I begin my speech, I would like to thank my colleague, the member for Perth—Wellington. I am delighted that he decided to share his speaking time with ...

CPAC News: Elizabeth May Responds to Government’s Abandonment of Electoral Reform Promise

“I feel more deeply shocked today by this government’s actions than any other in my adult life. Thousands upon thousands of Canadians put faith in this government’s – and in this prime minister’s – direct promise that 2015 would be the last election under First Past the Post. This betrayal is one felt by all ...

Parliament: Question on Electoral Reform

Elizabeth May: Mr. Speaker, “Within 18 months of forming government, we will introduce legislation to enact electoral reform”. That is from the Liberal platform. It is very clear, and it was repeated with clarity in the Speech from the Throne, and the mandate to us as members of the special committee said we were replacing ...

Elizabeth May: Debate on Electoral Reform and MyDemocracy.ca

Elizabeth May: Mr. Speaker, I thank all my colleagues. I share the view of my colleagues from Skeena—Bulkley Valley and Louis-Saint-Laurent and all the others who mentioned the incredible work done by the hon. member for Lac-Saint-Louis as committee chair, as well as all of the committee members. Liberals, Conservatives, New Democrats, members of the ...