Politics·PODCAST

The Pollcast: Liberals shift on electoral reform — what now?

With the Liberals backing down on their electoral reform package, what comes next? Will the NDP and Liberals squeeze out the Conservatives and move forward without a referendum? Host Éric Grenier is joined by the CBC's Aaron Wherry to break down this week's surprise move.

Host Éric Grenier is joined by CBC's Aaron Wherry

Minister of Democratic Institutions Maryam Monsef responds to a question during in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Thursday. (THE CANADIAN PRESS / Sean Kilpatrick)

The CBC Pollcast, hosted by CBC poll analyst and ThreeHundredEight.com founder Éric Grenier, explores the world of electoral politics, political polls and the trends they reveal.


The Liberals have backed down on their electoral reform plans, accepting an NDP proposal to award seats on the electoral reform committee according to how many votes each party earned in last year's election.

That means the Liberals have given up their majority on that committee. What's next?

After months of saying that the original proposal for the make up of the committee — giving the Liberals a majority of seats while awarding the Greens and Bloc Québécois one seat apiece, but no voting rights — was appropriate, the shift in the Liberals' position is dramatic.

Does this signal that the Liberals and New Democrats will co-operate on electoral reform? As the New Democrats support a form of proportional representation, is that now likely to be the kind of system that will be used in the 2019 federal election? And where does the Conservative Party fit into the equation, now that they've lost an opposition ally?

Joining host Éric Grenier to try to answer these questions is the CBC's Aaron Wherry.

After weeks of criticism, the Liberal government has agreed to support an NDP proposal that gives no one party a majority of seats on the committee that will study electoral reform. Aaron Wherry joins us to discuss.

Listen to the full discussion above — or subscribe to the CBC Pollcast and listen to past episodes.

Follow Éric Grenier and Aaron Wherry on Twitter.


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