Thank you, Mr. Scarpaleggia.
I want to thank the Special Committee on Electoral Reform.
Thank you very much for your work and devotion on this very important issue.
I'm William Gagnon. I sit on the federal council of the Young Greens of Canada and I represent Concordia University Young Greens.
On September 19, we organized a round table on electoral reform at Concordia University, a partnership between the Young Greens of McGill University and the Fair Vote Canada group of Montreal. The four participants were: Antony Hodgson, from Fair Vote Canada in British Columbia; Krzysztof Majewski, from Fair Vote Canada; Henry Milner, from the Canada Research Chair in Electoral Studies of the University of Montreal; and Daniel Green, deputy leader of the Green Party of Canada.
In addition to the live audience, there were about 1,000 live stream social media viewings. The discussions were very heated. Based on the opinions of the participants present, we drew five conclusions, which I will share with you.
The first is as follows.
Yes to a proportional voting system in which the number of parliamentary seats assigned to each party matches the proportion of popular votes received by each party.
The second conclusion is that a referendum could cause more confusion among the electorate in addition to extending the reform process and constituting a significant taxpayer expense.
Third, a consensus-based decision-making voting system is preferred as it forces everyone to work together as in coalitions rather than single parties.
Fourth, a ranked ballot might be a false solution if not coupled with proportional representation.
There is also the fact that this is a disguised version of the winner takes all system.
Fifth, the mixed-member proportional representation system was supported by the majority of participants and viewers.
Please make effective use of the power that is in your hands to leave a very positive mark on the history of Canada.
Thank you.