Politics·PODCAST

The Pollcast: The Liberals' electoral reform gambit

With the Liberals holding a majority of seats on the electoral reform committee, how realistic is it that any reform will have cross-party support? And is there even time to get it done? To try to answer these questions and more, host Éric Grenier is joined by the CBC's Aaron Wherry and Alison Crawford.

Host Éric Grenier is joined by the CBC's Alison Crawford and Aaron Wherry

What's the Liberals' election reform plan?

9 years ago
Duration 2:39
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised 2015 was the last election to be fought on first-past-the-post. What shape could electoral reform take?

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.


On Wednesday, the Liberals announced they would be striking an all-party committee to study options for changing the way Canadians vote. The intention is to ensure that the 2015 election will be the last decided under the first-past-the-post system.

But this all-party committee includes two parties, the Greens and Bloc Québécois, that won't be able to vote on how Canadians should vote. And a majority of the seats on the committee will be held by Liberals.

Has the Liberal government stacked the deck in their favour, as the opposition parties claim? What about holding a referendum to put the government's electoral reform proposal to Canadians? And can a change to the way Canadians vote be implemented in time for the next election in 2019?

Joining host Éric Grenier to try to answer these questions are the CBC Parliamentary Bureau's Aaron Wherry and Alison Crawford.

CBC senior reporters Aaron Wherry and Alison Crawford join us to discuss the Liberals' approach to electoral reform.

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

Follow Éric GrenierAlison Crawford, and Aaron Wherry on Twitter.