Hundreds gathered in Nathan Phillips Square on Saturday afternoon, decrying Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's broken promise to reform the electoral system.

Saturday's rally in Toronto was one of several similar protests across Canada. (Christopher Langenzarde/CBC)

"We feel betrayed," said Antony Hodgson, president of Fair Voting B.C., an non-profit advocating for fair voting systems. "We feel that our trust in him, in his party, in his promises has been completely set aside."

"Living in a democracy halfway just isn't good enough," echoed Nidhi Tandon, one of the protesters.

Trudeau first committed to replacing the current first-past-the-post electoral system in June 2015. (CBC)

Trudeau had repeatedly promised to replace the current first-past-the-post-system before the next federal election.

But the prime minister abandoned that commitment earlier this month, saying there was a lack of "consensus" for a new voting system.

The Liberal government's decision not to pursue electoral reform has drawn sharp criticism from opposition parties and the public. (CBC)

Alex Lavasidis, one of the organizers of the protest, said she voted Liberal because the party campaigned on electoral reform.

She said Trudeau can't claim there's no consensus when many people don't understand the issues with the current voting system.

Alex Lavasidis, one of the organizers of Saturday's protest, said she's not affiliated with any particular group, but just wants to see the government keep its promise on electoral reform. (CBC)

"The government hasn't done a good job of helping people understand what this issue is," she said. "So you can't claim that there's no consensus if you haven't even helped spread the word on what this is."

The Toronto rally was one of several protests across Canada as part of a national day of action.

Hodgson said it's critical that people across the country push back against Trudeau's decision.

The government struck a special committee of the House of Commons on electoral reform last June and all MPs were invited to hold town halls meetings on the issue. Former democratic institutions minister Maryam Monsef also conducted her own national tour and launched an online survey about the Canadian political system. (CBC)

"If politicians feel that they can break promises and suffer no consequences, they'll keep doing that," he said.

"He made this promise unequivocally... and he relied on it to get himself and his MPs elected in the last election."