Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appears to have opened the door to maintaining Canada’s first-past-the-post voting system, despite having promised the 2015 federal election would be the last to use it.

In an interview with Le Devoir Ottawa correspondent Marie Vastel to mark the end of his government’s first year, Trudeau said he no longer sees the same appetite for electoral reform he did when the Conservatives were in power.

“Under Stephen Harper, there were so many people unhappy with the government and their approach that people were saying, ‘It will take electoral reform to no longer have a government we don’t like’. But under the current system, they now have a government they’re more satisfied with and the motivation to change the electoral system is less compelling,” he said.

Trudeau’s comments triggered a predictable explosion in question period today, with NDP Leader Tom Mulcair leading the charge.

“Canadians have been clear that in 2019, every vote should count. A year ago, the prime minister said he agreed with them,” said Mulcair. “Instead of inventing excuses and backing away from his solemn promise to Canadians, will he work with us in good faith to deliver the fair, proportional electoral system the voters deserve?”

Trudeau tried to turn Mulcair’s attack back on him, accusing him of “changing his mind” about the need for broad consultation.

“Mr. Speaker, in the spring the member opposite was tremendously worried that we would use our majority to ram through changes to Canada’s electoral system. Now we work with them to demonstrate the hard work that our committee could do, hearing all perspectives and giving a report on our electoral system,” Trudeau said. “Now he’s changed his mind and he wants us to use our majority to ram through electoral change. Mr. Speaker, saying one thing and then its opposite was exactly what landed that member in that seat in this House.”

Speaking to reporters in the House of Commons foyer after the NDP’s caucus meeting Wednesday, Mulcair read a printed version of the Le Devoir article and translated it into English on the spot. He then argued Trudeau was defending an “unfair system” simply because it produced a Liberal majority in 2015.

“It’s quite obvious that Mr. Trudeau no longer believes that the 2015 election should be the last election under the unfair first-past-the-post system,” he said.

“So the unfair system is still there. The only thing that’s changed is that Mr. Trudeau believes he’s such a good choice that the system doesn’t have to be changed anymore.”

Conservative Interim Leader Rona Ambrose, speaking after her caucus meeting, called it a “real shift”.

“Much before any election was held, the prime minister was so clear that there needed to be electoral reform. Look, what we’ve said all along is that Canadians should be the ones to make a decision about how we vote for our representatives,” she said.

“We’ve pushed for a referendum every step of the way and frankly, I think what Mr. Trudeau is doing is listening to Canadians.”

Ambrose may be correct in suggesting Trudeau’s position on an electoral reform referendum is changing. Trudeau told Le Devoir that different “levels” of change would require different levels of support — perhaps indicating that the Conservatives’ demand for a referendum on electoral reform has made an impact.

“Less support and a small change could be acceptable. A bigger change would take greater support,” he said.

“What’s a big change? What’s a small change? All those reflections — that’s why you need to have rigorous and intelligent conversations with Canadians.”

In late August, an IPSOS Public Affairs poll showed only one in five Canadians were aware the electoral reform process was taking place, perhaps giving Trudeau some cover.

And there’s no indication that’s changed a great deal.

The Liberals’ platform, however, was clear: “We are committed to ensuring that 2015 will be the last federal election conducted under the first-past-the-post voting system,” it says.

“We will convene an all-party Parliamentary committee to review a wide variety of reforms, such as ranked ballots, proportional representation, mandatory voting, and online voting. This committee will deliver its recommendations to Parliament. Within 18 months of forming government, we will introduce legislation to enact electoral reform.”

The special committee on electoral reform is preparing to draft a report, with recommendations, ahead of a December 1 deadline. Trudeau said he doesn’t think his government is obliged to implement the committee’s recommendations.

“But it is an essential tool to frame a possible government decision,” he added.

Not everyone invested in the electoral reform project was pushing the panic button Wednesday. Green Party leader Elizabeth May, who sits on the electoral reform committee, warned against jumping to conclusions too quickly.

“I don’t necessarily disagree with what he said as an objective statement,” May told iPolitics.

“You can extrapolate from that that he’s not committed to keeping his promise. That would be completely unacceptable. He has to be committed to keeping his promise – it’s a promise. It’s an election pledge. It’s one of the reasons that they formed government. I know people who went door-to-door telling people ‘you’ve gotta vote Liberal, hold your nose and vote Liberal because it’s the last time we’ll ever have to.’

“It was an effective election commitment, but I also expect the Prime Minister to keep his word: 2015 will be the last election held under First Past the Post.”

NDP democratic reform critic Nathan Cullen, who also sits on the committee, said Wednesday that Trudeau’s comments are “disappointing,” “incredibly cynical” and an “insult” to Canadians.

He went as far as suggesting the Liberals poached votes from the political left with that promise, only to start backing away a year later.

“It was a popular promise to make, particularly amongst progressive Canadians,” Cullen said. “Mr. Trudeau took that page from the NDP song book, played it well and attracted a number of voters into his camp because it was more than symbolism.

“This was part of a package particularly to attract progressive voters over, and in large extent it worked, along with deficit financing and some of the other issues he raised.”

The committee both Cullen and May sit on must submit their final report on electoral reform by December 1.

— With files from Kyle Duggan