Electoral Reform committee  Yes, but we could adopt rules to avoid parachuting. We are in favour of a closed list because, as I said, you can maintain the gender parity, alternation between men and women, and youth representation. You could adopt open lists in which voters would decide the order in which they would like their candidates, to justifiably avoid parachuting.

Electoral Reform committee  Basically, we're in favour of a referendum. Electoral reform wasn't a major issue in the last federal election. It can't be said that it was a referendum election. Of course, it's good that a committee is consulting Canadians across the country, but they won't have a direct impact on the committee's recommendations or on the electoral reform that the federal government will propose.

Electoral Reform committee  There might be some kind of introduction explaining the proposed reform of the Canada Elections Act, and Canadians would vote for or against the proposal. Going into details is complicated. Perhaps you could address the issue of the voting method more generally. The government would determine the terms and conditions, but it's important that Canadians have their say on the issue.

Electoral Reform committee  Of course it's complicated. In one sense, few Canadians have thought about electoral reform. Perhaps there should be an awareness campaign to inform Canadians about what electoral reform is, what it does, the different types of voting around the world and the impact of each type.

Electoral Reform committee  As I said, for voter turnout, it's clear that young people who are part of the electoral process are more informed. For example, the young people recruited by Elections Canada to check names on the voters list tell their friends that they will be working in the next election and that the job is super interesting.

Electoral Reform committee  In terms of parachuting in candidates, I would say that if Canadians are against parachuting in a candidate at this point, all they have to do is vote against the candidate who was parachuted in. The double vote makes it possible to indicate that a certain candidate was parachuted in, that the voter liked the candidate's party, but not the fact that the candidate was parachuted in the voter's riding.

Electoral Reform committee  In my view, the 113 MPs chosen by the parties would still be legitimate. It would be up to the Canadians who want more space in the 113 seats to obtain a membership card for the party closest to their values, to go to the provincial convention and to vote for the candidates on the lists.

Electoral Reform committee  There would be 225 MPs.

Electoral Reform committee  We proposed a format of one-third and two-thirds. As I said at the outset, assigning too much proportionality would sort of drown the various populations in each province. If we don't assign enough weight to proportionality, we might not factor in the distortions that might arise between the number of votes and the number of MPs.

Electoral Reform committee  No.

Electoral Reform committee  In terms of increasing the number of MPs, we would have to see. We chose the number of 338 MPs because the House of Commons is bursting at the seams. It is more complicated than that. We are in favour of increasing the number of MPs in a sense, but, for a purely technical reason, we are keeping the number at 338 MPs.

Electoral Reform committee  I think the participation of young people in this possible referendum would depend on an information campaign. The Chief Electoral Officer could join with youth groups, youth forums, and promote participation in the referendum. Perhaps he could visit CEGEPs and universities to explain the debate to those who aren't following it.

Electoral Reform committee  I think the point of a referendum is to open the door to all Canadians. We can’t make young people vote against their will. Personally, I wouldn’t want a referendum to be invalidated because a group of young people didn’t vote. We need to make an effort to engage young people, but I don’t think we can impose a youth representativeness criterion.

Electoral Reform committee  I think young people don't run because they are not sufficiently informed about the procedure. They have a lot of information about how to vote, but the process to run for office is still quite long. They are probably not sufficiently educated on the matter. I come back to the need for a citizen participation course.

Electoral Reform committee  Yes.