Some voters are feeling betrayed after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau backed away from his promise to replace the 鈥渇irst past the post鈥� system used in federal elections.
They note that Trudeau retained first past the post after the system allowed the Liberals to have a majority government, even though the party didn鈥檛 have a majority of the votes in the 2015 federal election.
People shouldn鈥檛 feel betrayed.
Rather, Canadians should be frustrated that Trudeau made such a foolish promise in the first place, and that he wasted millions of taxpayer dollars trying to solve a problem that Canada didn鈥檛 have in the first place.
To be clear: first past the post is not a perfect system. A party can have a majority government even though they lack majority support. The Liberals formed a majority in 2015 even though they only had 39.5 per cent of the vote; the Conservatives had a majority in 2011 with 39.6 per cent support.
First past the post might be flawed, it鈥檚 still the best system out there for Canada.
Trudeau didn鈥檛 realize that when he promised electoral reform a few months before the 2015 election. Electoral reform is a concept that sounds great when you bring it up in a discussion at a coffee shop or in a political science discussion.
But if you want to see something change, you need a solution that provides an improvement. That鈥檚 where the electoral reform proponents fail.
Proportional representation sounds great, but all you hear from its proponents is 鈥渨e need proportional representation.鈥� Ask them how they鈥檙e going to implement it, particularly in a vast country like Canada with a relatively small population, and you realize it鈥檚 not feasible.
It鈥檚 a great system for small European nations with dense populations. Canada isn鈥檛 small, and it鈥檚 not densely populated.
The Liberals wanted the preferential ballot, in which voters rate candidates by assigning a one for their top choice, a two for their second choice, and so on. But everyone could see that it鈥檚 a system that favours the Liberals, since they would be the first or second choice on most ballots.
Preferential ballots are great for nomination meetings and party leadership races, but not suitable for federal elections.
It didn鈥檛 help that the Liberals鈥� had an ill-prepared and inadequate minister for electoral reform, Maryam Monsef, who showed her immaturity by berating committee members during a sitting of the House of Commons.
And it doesn鈥檛 help that the Liberals squandered millions of dollars on this issue, money that could have been better spent on improving the lives of Canadians.
It鈥檚 clear that Trudeau didn鈥檛 grasp how complex it would be to revamp Canada鈥檚 electoral system. Now he knows. And hopefully Trudeau鈥檚 change of heart will serve as a warning to those who want 2019 to be the last election with first past the post.
