Electoral Reform committee  I think we need to focus on what PR does. As Professor Peter Russell told the committee, it is about translating national vote shares into proportional seat allocation in the legislature. We also hear that one of the main criticisms of first past the post is that a government can get 36% of the national vote and get 100% of the power.

Electoral Reform committee  Yes, absolutely. I think my point was that a lot of people don't frame the debate that way. I'm not accusing Professor Russell of misrepresenting anything. I think the way the term “false majority” is frequently thrown around shows it being used in a more disingenuous way. That's my only concern.

Electoral Reform committee  I too hold Peter Russell in the highest esteem. He's an academic hero of mine. I'm not sure who originally coined the term “false majority.” My concern is less about where it emanated than how it is employed in this debate, and it's often employed in a way, I think, not to argue in favour of a different system but to, I would argue, misrepresent the nature of the system we have.

Electoral Reform committee  I think part of the discussion about the electoral system ignores a lot of related policies that aim to protect minorities. I would say that regardless of the system, there are a set of things we can discuss in terms of ensuring fair representation and protecting minority rights.

Electoral Reform committee  I am a bit torn. I'm not a fan of referenda generally. I do see electoral reform as an exceptional case, so I wouldn't want governments to have to deal with every policy decision by saying that “Well, we're going to make our decision and then we're going to present it to the people.

Electoral Reform committee  I don't want to get into suggesting that a political party can't make whatever promises and frame those promises however it wants, and quite frankly, in a system of responsible government, if the government can pass constitutional legislation, good for it. My concerns relate to the political legitimacy of those decisions, and I think had the government actually promised a specific electoral system, it would be on safer ground with regard to that political legitimacy question.

Electoral Reform committee  Thank you. I want to thank the committee for the invitation to join you today. You'll forgive me if I'm not as coherent as I could be, but we have a two-week-old baby at home, and it turns out babies come with a big dose of sleep deprivation. The brief I submitted to you addresses a set of disparate issues relating to electoral reform.