OTTAWA—The New Democrats are urging the Liberals to voluntarily give up their majority on a committee tasked with devising a new electoral system.

In a letter to Democratic Institutions Minister Maryam Monsef, NDP critic Nathan Cullen says the committee studying Canada’s electoral system “should correspond to how Canadians voted in the 2015 federal election.

Cullen proposed a committee with five Liberal MPs, three Conservatives, two New Democrats, and one seat each for the Green Party and Block Québécois.

Practically speaking, that would mean the government could not force through any measures without the support of at least one other party.

Speaking to reporters outside the House of Commons, Cullen said he believes no one party should unilaterally change how elections are conducted.

“(If) the Liberals are the only ones standing at the end of the day, supporting a new system, they will be open, I think fairly, to criticism that this is to their advantage and to the disadvantage of others,” Cullen said.

“I’m very optimistic about this. I think this will well received by the government. It very much reflects what they’ve expressed as their new openness and willingness to work with other parties.”

Responding to Cullen’s suggestion during question period Thursday, Monsef said any reforms to the electoral system must be “designed to address the needs of all Canadians and go far beyond addressing the interests of the parties we represent.”

Monsef did not say, however, if she would agree to the NDP’s proposal. Instead, her office said the matter can be debated when she puts forward a motion to strike the committee.

As part of his election platform, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vowed the 2015 federal election would be the last under the first-past-the-post system, which critics say skews the popular vote and allows parties to form majority governments without a majority of votes.

The Conservatives, who formed a majority government with 39.6 per cent of the popular vote in 2011, are in favour of the status quo. Conservative critic Scott Reid has repeatedly pressed the government to put any changes to the electoral system to a national referendum.

The third-place NDP support some form of mixed member proportional system, allowing citizens to vote for both local candidates and a national party.

Trudeau has previously mused about a ranked ballot system, allowing Canadians to vote for their preferred candidate and rank the alternatives. Critics have argued that the system inherently benefits parties in the centre of the political system — such as the Liberals — to the detriment of parties on the left or right.

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