Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Skeena—Bulkley Valley for bringing forward a motion today that allows us to talk about how we can begin a process as we intend to continue a process in a non-partisan way, seeking what is best for all Canadians.
In his motion he suggests we will be looking at research. There is an astonishing amount of research that allows us to understand that changing our voting system is not a matter of opinion, that there is solid empirical evidence.
Arend Lijphart is a professor at the University of California, San Diego. In his research, 36 democracies were surveyed and he came to a conclusion. This conclusion was that those democracies that have consensus-based, such as proportional representation, voting systems, actually have a stronger, better record with “regard to effective policy making” and the quality of democracy compared to majoritarian systems.
I put to the member, can we bring such experts to the committee?