The prime minister has already stated his penchant for a preferential ballot, whereby voters would rank parties according to their preferences. The committee is charged with finding an alternative to the first-past-the-post electoral system, which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to scrap during the last federal election campaign. Their pledge to change the system was aimed at voters disenchanted with former prime minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative majority and “anti-democratic” ways. “We deserve broad, representative politics, a stable government and an opportunity to shape our democracy,” said Democratic Institutions Minister Maryam Monsef this week, when she announced the government’s all-party committee on electoral reform. Of the four remaining committee seats, the Conservatives have been allocated three, the New Democrats one.

Source: National Post May 11, 2016 22:31 UTC