Uh-oh.
Evidence of meeting #44 for Electoral Reform in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was ridings.
A video is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #44 for Electoral Reform in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was ridings.
A video is available from Parliament.
6:30 p.m.
Conservative
Scott Reid Conservative Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON
—that there is no happy face over Hastings–Lennox and Addington, his riding.
6:30 p.m.
Conservative
Scott Reid Conservative Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON
I don't know if that was an oversight. I'm trying to figure this out. Are you saying the ridings essentially are not redistributed except to the extent that you combined some urban ridings? Or are you saying something else?
6:30 p.m.
President, Fair Vote Canada
No, it should be the same. These ridings should not have changed, right?
6:30 p.m.
A voice
Are we talking about rural-urban?
6:30 p.m.
President, Fair Vote Canada
It's rural-urban for this Ontario east and centre.
6:30 p.m.
Conservative
Scott Reid Conservative Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON
What I'm really asking is to what degree there's redistribution. Obviously in the urban ridings, which become a form of STV riding, there is redistribution in that you smush a certain number of them together. I'm trying to find out whether in the other ridings you're rejigging them or whether it's the case that they retain their current boundaries.
6:35 p.m.
Conservative
Scott Reid Conservative Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON
What Wilf just said is “nine becomes eight”.
Wilf, you're not technically a witness here, but if you nod, we can read those things into the roll here.
So there are nine ridings under this model and in eastern Ontario they go down to being eight ridings in rural eastern Ontario, freeing up one member. That's correct? Okay, that explains it.
6:35 p.m.
President, Fair Vote Canada
Nine becomes eight, five becomes four, and five becomes four. That frees up three top-up seats, which is what you have in the other map.
So you still have 19 and you've freed up three seats.
6:35 p.m.
Conservative
Scott Reid Conservative Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON
Okay. Thank you very much. That's very helpful.
6:35 p.m.
President, Fair Vote Canada
So this is the reconfiguration model of rural-urban.
6:35 p.m.
Conservative
Scott Reid Conservative Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON
Right. Okay.
Is this stuff available online anywhere? I'm about to run out of time, but if you can guide me in that regard, that will help the committee.
6:35 p.m.
President, Fair Vote Canada
I could give you the link. It's on our Google Drive. You can access all the maps there if you like, in colour.
6:35 p.m.
Conservative
Scott Reid Conservative Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON
I suggest you submit that to the clerk, and that way it will be included for all members of the committee, if that's acceptable.
6:35 p.m.
NDP
Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
That was great. Thank you very much, all, for being here. It's a really good moment for these particular witnesses to appear before us. We're just at the very last bit of our meetings as we enter into the next phase of what we've been doing, which is to try to pull all this information in and then sort out what would work best for Canada.
It's also been an interesting 24 hours if I can call it that. We had initial indications from the Prime Minister yesterday that maybe the enthusiasm for changing the electoral system has dropped, because people are happier now. People wanted it when Harper was in but they don't want it now because they're happier. Then today, I've just read a news article saying that the Prime Minister is saying that he's deeply committed to following through on the promise.
Mr. Graves, I'm just looking at your polling here—which also made some news today—that an astonishing near 60% of Canadians want the Prime Minister to keep his promise.
6:35 p.m.
NDP
Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
There was some notion yesterday that maybe there isn't enthusiasm for this, or that the enthusiasm has dropped, but then I read your submission this morning, and now. Why hasn't the enthusiasm dropped? Weren't voters only into this issue when they didn't like the government?
6:35 p.m.
President, EKOS Research Associates Inc.
I think they separate the issue of, were you more satisfied with the results of this election than the last election, and there has been a bump up in trust levels, but I don't believe it is dealing with some of the fundamental, structural issues that plague democracy.
For example, when we asked the public if they thought it was fair that a government that receives less than 40%, which would be very close to the 39.5% and 39.6% that the current and previous governments received, should get most of the seats, by a margin of three to one the public responded no.
6:35 p.m.
NDP
Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
Three to one, so Canadians like fairness and they want it in their—
6:35 p.m.
President, EKOS Research Associates Inc.
They said they placed fairness and equality as some of the dominant principles they would like for rethinking the electoral system.
