this post was submitted on 31 Mar 2025
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Remember when the Liberals also promised the 2015 election would also be the last under FPTP?
Quite right.
But what I'm excited about is a major party actually saying that the govt can actually solve the housing crisis, a reference to when the govt did this in the past, and describes a practical way of doing it.
If we won't reward a party that actually comes up with a plan because we don't trust them, when is any party going to actually do it?
And don't forget, Trudeau actually did do some of the things he promised---like legalizing cannabis. And that was something that I heard nothing but hand-wringing about from other politicians my entire life!
You make fair points about housing and cannabis legalization. The Liberals do occasionally follow through on promises, especially when they align with both political opportunity and public pressure.
However, electoral reform is more fundamental than any single policy area. When Liberals promised that 2015 would be "the last election under first-past-the-post", they weren't just offering another policy - they were promising to fix the democratic foundation upon which all other policies rest. According to the opposition, Trudeau repeated this commitment to "make every vote count" more than 1,800 times, clearly understanding how much it resonated with voters.
The Electoral Reform Committee recommended proportional representation after extensive consultation, but Trudeau abandoned it when he couldn't get his preferred system. More recently, 68.6% of Liberal MPs voted against even creating a Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform.
This matters because in a proper democracy, citizens are entitled to meaningful representation. A housing program (however needed) can be implemented and cancelled with each election cycle under our current system - what experts call policy lurch. But proportional representation would fundamentally reshape how all policies are developed, ensuring they better reflect what Canadians actually vote for.
I'm not saying we should dismiss other policies - housing is critically important. But it's worth noting that the same party repeatedly promising electoral reform for over a century (since Mackenzie King in 1919) while never delivering it suggests a deeply entrenched pattern that voters should question.
Again. The Liberals said they'd change it. That's more than any of the other parties have said they'd do.
The NDP talk a good game, but when they get elected provincially they never actually do it. And the Conservatives don't want it---ever.
For me, it's a minor victory that a party leading in the polls actually says it takes housing seriously!
I have to disagree with a few points here.
First, it's not accurate that "Liberals said they'd change it. That's more than any of the other parties have said they'd do." The Green Party, NDP, and Bloc Québécois consistently support proportional representation. In fact, in 2024, all the Bloc, Greens, NDP, and Independent MPs, 3 Conservatives and 39 Liberal Party MPs voted for a Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform - but 107 Liberal MPs (68.6%) voted against it.
Second, Justin Trudeau admitted in 2024 that Liberals were "deliberately vague" about electoral reform to appeal to Fair Vote Canada advocates, while privately preferring a non-proportional system that would have benefited their party. This suggests their promises weren't made in good faith.
On housing specifically - yes, it's important that parties address the crisis. But under our current electoral system, we're vulnerable to what experts call policy lurch, where each new government wastes billions undoing the previous government's work. Even a promising housing program can be cancelled after the next election, with all investments wasted.
This is why electoral reform is fundamental rather than just another policy promise. Proportional representation creates the conditions for stable long-term policies on housing, climate change, and other complex issues that require planning beyond a single electoral cycle.
I'm not saying we should ignore housing - it's critically important. But fixing our democratic foundation would help ensure housing policies (and all others) better reflect what Canadians actually vote for and are more resistant to politically-motivated cancellation.
You present real facts, yet people downvote you. Insane.
Electoral reform should be a priority. It's what the majority of Canadians want. Like most Canadians, I'm sick and tired of always having to vote for the least worst party to avoid the worst one becoming a majority. I'm sick of having MPs and parties being elected into power by a minority of the population.
Oui, c'est pourquoi j'essaie tres forte!