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Other experts, however, contend that just because an idea is complicated, doesn’t preclude it from going to a referendum.

A referendum is now widely seen as the norm for such a change and departing from it would be politically risky

“This response misrepresents the referendums process in both B.C. and Ontario,” Lydia Miljan, a senior fellow of the Fraser Institute, argues in a blog for the right-wing think tank. In Ontario in 2007 and B.C. in 2009, over 60 per cent opposed changing the electoral system, but Milijan said that in and of itself is not an argument against a referendum: “For example, in Ontario, it wasn’t so much that the public didn’t understand the proposal, but that it was neglected by political elites. Polls at the time indicated that only eight per cent of the public were aware that there even was a referendum…. If the government is confident that the public has a desire to change the electoral system, then it should be willing to face that electorate in a question on the matter.”

Some cite the previous provincial referendums — and their results — as a point for, not against, putting the question directly to the people.

“A referendum is now widely seen as the norm for such a change and departing from it would be politically risky,” Don Lenihan, a senior associate of policy and engagement at Canada 2020, a left-leaning think tank. “Electoral reform is not just another policy issue where the government can claim a mandate to choose the solution.”

Interim Conservative Leader Rona Ambrose has also called for a referendum, and her caucus-mate Scott Reid has created an e-petition to drum up support. So far, over 4,000 Canadians have signed on. The NDP, for their part, favour reform but of a different nature than the ranked ballots the Liberals are said to prefer. Ranked ballots allow voters to number the candidates they prefer in order, so their vote could go to their second choice if their first can’t win the seat. It’s a system analysts suggest would favour the Liberals electorally. The New Democrats, on the other hand, prefer some form of proportional representation, when a party’s seats in the House of Commons are redistributed to match its popular vote, something that would give that party more spots in parliament.