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Election reform scrapped in Canada

MP Mel Arnold expects the Liberal government to break more promises
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The federal government will not proceed with changes to the election system in Canada.

Electoral reform appears to be dead in Canada.

The federal government announced Wednesday that changing how elections are held is no longer a priority although thew Liberals campaigned that the 2015 election would be the last first-past-the-post vote ever in the country.

“It’s another example of how their last election platform was out of touch,” said Mel Arnold, Conservative MP for North Okanagan-Shuswap.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau posted a new mandate letter on the Ministry of Democratic Institutions’ website.

“There has been tremendous work by the House of Commons special committee on electoral reform, outreach by members of Parliament by all parties, and engagement of 360,000 individuals in Canada through mydemocracy.ca. A clear preference for a new electoral system, let alone a consensus, has not emerged. Furthermore, without a clear preference or a clear question, a referendum would not be in Canada’s interest. Changing the electoral system will not be in your mandate,” wrote Trudeau.

“As minister of Democratic Institutions, your overarching goal will be to strengthen the openness and fairness of Canada’s public institutions. You will lead on improving our democratic institutions and Senate reform to restore Canadians’ trust and participation in our democratic processes.”

Last year, Arnold conducted a survey about electoral reform in North Okanagan-Shuswap and 2,627 responses were returned. Of the responses received, 1.3 per cent were undecided, 25.1 per cent were opposed and 74 per cent were in favour of a referendum on electoral reform.

“The message is clear that people aren’t ready for a change,” said Arnold, who says people were confused about the voting options.

Arnold believes electoral reform is just the start of policies being reversed by the Liberal government.

“We can expect more broken promises,” he said, adding that there is speculation that dental and medical benefits will be taxed despite the Liberals saying they will ease the financial burden on residents.

“That will hurt people with those (benefits) plans.”