Dear Friend,

The Liberal Government has abandoned its commitment to electoral reform. Justin Trudeau’s promise that the 2015 election would be the last conducted under First Past the Post could not have been clearer. He and his government repeated it numerous times, including in the Speech from the Throne. The work of the Electoral Reform Committee was thorough and the Committee heard loud and clear from Canadians, and the vast majority of experts, that Canada should move to a proportional representation system.

Today’s announcement that Justin Trudeau and the Liberals are abandoning their clear promise, for no good reason, is the height of cynicism. It is manifestly not in the best interest of the country and is the result of precisely the sort of backroom calculations that turn Canadians off of politics.  Mr. Trudeau pledged to do politics differently. Today he has failed utterly to live up to that commitment. The Broadbent Institute, our supporters, and allies have worked tirelessly on this issue since the 2015 election to ensure a fair voting system where every votes counts. Today we are disappointed, but not defeated. For all your support on this issue we are truly grateful.

I have put a public statement up on our website, it can be found here: www.broadbentinstitute.ca/ed_erre.

Please watch for a more detailed response from the Broadbent Institute soon.

Sincerely,

Ed — Ed Broadbent Chair Broadbent Institute