Electoral Reform committee  I like the way you summed it up at the end, “anything mandatory is not a go“. It's the same principle of impositions on citizens. To us, it's contrary to the spirit of our democracy and our charter.

Electoral Reform committee  I think you are right to say that the electoral map is not perfect. I don't know whether the solution is to redraw the electoral map or to make the election of the prime minister a little more difficult, for instance.

Electoral Reform committee  It's hard to quantify. It's hard to put into specific terms, but it's a comment we've heard consistently, whether in the west island of Montreal or the lower north shore of Quebec, pockets where you have.... I can only speak first-hand for English official language minorities, bu

Electoral Reform committee  We're not ready to say that the status quo, in terms of the system, is a yea or a nay, but we definitely have a bit of a challenge—I think all of us do—with engagement, education, and civic involvement.

Electoral Reform committee  We are not there yet. Certainly, any system that would give more power to political parties would worry us. We feel the same about any system that would reduce the geographical influence, for instance a pure proportional representation system like the Israeli model. That concerns

Electoral Reform committee  I don't know if you have reached that point.

Electoral Reform committee  No.

Electoral Reform committee  As far as the system is concerned, the status quo is not ideal. There are a lot of corrections to be made, specifically to get more people involved and engaged. We're not ready to say that the current the first-past-the-post system—I have forgotten the French term. I've never

Electoral Reform committee  May I add something?

Electoral Reform committee  In the conversations that we did have with members, partners, and organizations, we did hear regularly—and you're probably familiar with this in Greenfield Park—whether it's Greenfield Park, or the Eastern Townships, or some small communities on the lower north shore, that there'

Electoral Reform committee  I think it is normal and healthy in our society, in the context of our committee discussions, that experts present completely divergent views. I think it is worthwhile to mention that after these conversations with the experts, it will be necessary to hold a dialogue with the g

Electoral Reform committee  I will be me instead, Mr. Chair. I'll be speaking for Stephen Thompson.

Electoral Reform committee  Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, honourable members. Thanks for having us and Shanah Tova to any friends who might be celebrating 5777, I think. My name is Kevin Dobie. I'm a member of the board of directors of the Quebec Community Groups Network, the QCGN. I'm accompanied by Steph

Electoral Reform committee  Yes.