{"id":2474,"date":"2017-02-03T19:53:58","date_gmt":"2017-02-04T00:53:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/?p=2474"},"modified":"2017-02-03T19:53:58","modified_gmt":"2017-02-04T00:53:58","slug":"communists-demand-electoral-reform-and-legislation-to-enact-mmp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/fr\/communists-demand-electoral-reform-and-legislation-to-enact-mmp\/","title":{"rendered":"Communists Demand Electoral Reform and Legislation to Enact MMP"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Communist Party of Canada has condemned the Liberal government\u2019s decision to abandon its promise to introduce electoral reform, calling it self-serving and anti-democratic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe PM says there \u2018s no consensus in the country for electoral reform\u201d, said Communist leader Liz Rowley, \u201cbut that\u2019s not true. Seventy percent of electors cast votes for parties that campaigned for electoral reform, including the NDP, Greens, Communists, and the Liberals who promised to make every vote count and to do it in time for the next election.\u00a0\u00a0 That\u2019s a clear mandate.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s changed is the consensus in the Liberal Party. A year after winning a majority government with only 39% of the popular vote, the new consensus is that making every vote count<\/em><\/strong> would reduce Liberal seats in Parliament, and that can\u2019t be allowed,\u201d said Rowley, noting the Conservatives also oppose electoral reform and for the same reasons.<\/p>\n

The first-past-the-post system has enabled an exclusive monopoly on government by the Liberals and Tories \u2013 and the corporations they represent – for 150 years. It has allowed both parties to secure majorities in Parliament with less than 40% of the popular vote, to introduce policies they campaigned against after an election, including Mulroney\u2019s Free Trade Agreement (1988), and Trudeau\u2019s pipelines and climate change policies (2016), on top of devastating austerity policies (introduced by both) that have slashed jobs, wages, and pensions, cut living standards, privatized public services and assets, legislated massive corporate tax cuts, imposed global corporate trade deals, and undermined labour, civil and democratic rights.<\/p>\n

This is the real reason why Liberal and Tory governments refuse to introduce electoral reform. And it\u2019s the reason why many working people feel obliged to vote strategically to block the election of the party with the most dangerous policies, instead of the party with the policies they want to support.<\/p>\n

The Communist Party demands the government carry through its election commitment to deliver electoral reform before the next election, and to introduce legislation enacting Mixed Member Proportional representation (MMP) which has been the demand of citizens\u2019 assemblies that have studied electoral reform across Canada, and which has the support of large and representative organizations such as the Canadian Labour Congress, Fair Vote Canada, Council of Canadians, and many others.<\/p>\n

The Communist Party of Canada, the second oldest party in Canada, was the first to advocate a system of proportional representation in Canada. We also campaign for:<\/p>\n