Electoral Reform committee  Politics has always been a struggle, and it always will be. That's just the way it is. Our system assumes there will be struggle; it is predicated on struggle. This provides some creative tension. People are sure there will be a struggle. They believe the outcome will be positive

Electoral Reform committee  In my opinion, if we want changes, we have to be realistic and quite modest. Listening to the discussions here, it sounds like the goal is re-engineering, which I think is very ambitious. There is a factor to consider. As I have said, the changes reflect a more intellectual, more

Electoral Reform committee  Aside from security and verification issues, a vote can very easily be devalued. When we vote now, we always have to go to a physical location. Some effort is required. It is not a survey. I always give my students the following test. I tell them that a government is elected on

Electoral Reform committee  When I talk politics with my students, they often say the system appeals to them, but that the problem is the political parties. They argue that there should be no parties because they are appalled by their partisanship. I tell them that, unfortunately, life is not just harmony a

Electoral Reform committee  Yes, a bit.

Electoral Reform committee  Considering the way citizens are and what society has become in 2016, I think they have very high and fundamentally contradictory expectations. I don't think there is a system that can fulfill all those expectations. There are frustrations with the system, but I don't think adopt

Electoral Reform committee  Thank you. Personally, I think mandatory voting is disrespectful of citizens. It infantilises them. I think citizens have the right not to vote. They do not have to be perfect model citizens. Moreover, I think the current system offers an accurate picture of the situation. It

Electoral Reform committee  I asked people I know who have children and I am not convinced that 16-year-olds have the maturity to vote. Once again, it is a trend. I have heard that 16-year-olds would vote more than 18-year-olds. I am concerned about a vision of democracy where quantity is more important tha

Electoral Reform committee  Yes. I am not completely opposed to change. I am simply cautious. One of the values of our electoral system is its simplicity. The system should not be too complicated. One of the strengths of our current system is the nearly physical relationship between MPs and their constitu

Electoral Reform committee  Now they have status, but there is still an element of battle. Proportional systems focus on cooperation and consensus. Personally, I do not really believe in that.

Electoral Reform committee  I also think that the old democracies are superior to the new ones. I have no doubt of that. The visions are different ...

Electoral Reform committee  That is what I am saying, that they are two different visions and it is important for Canadians to be able to choose between the two.

Electoral Reform committee  Each system has its pros and cons, I would say. The danger is that we could at some point have the worst of both worlds, losing the strengths of our current system without gaining the benefits of a new system. We have to be careful of that. In answer to your question, I would sa

Electoral Reform committee  Personally, I think that raises very different visions of politics, life, and society. Clearly, our current voting system is not perfect. That said, in Quebec, a few unfortunate cases were mentioned in which the party with the most votes was not the one that won the election. I t

Electoral Reform committee  In fact, Mr. Milner....