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“If you see the nomination as a moment in a chain of democratic moments” leading to the election of a member of Parliament, he said, “I think it’s notable that, in an overwhelming majority of cases, there’s no real decision being made by local people.”

The study, dropped weeks before the start of a federal election, said that snap elections account for part of why nominations are so uncompetitive, while rules that benefit incumbents are also a factor. Then’s there’s the reality that many local party associations are just too disorganized or small to attract multiple candidates.

But the trend extends even to larger parties that are competitive across the country, Morden said.

“In our mind, that is still a stunning lack of competition,” he said.

The two largest parties in Parliament — the governing Liberals and Official Opposition Conservatives — expressed confidence in their nomination races. Liberal party spokesman Braeden Caley also said the party would look at the report for any ideas to improve the process. A Conservative party spokesman noted the rules, procedures and timelines for nomination races in his party are clear and available to everyone.

A spokesperson for the Green Party also said they would be studying the report, and it was supportive of “any initiative that aims to improve transparency and accessibility in our electoral process.”

Beyond the lack of competition, the study also found nominations rules also have significant effects on the diversity of nomination candidates and, consequently, the diversity of members elected to the House of Commons.