It’s so obvious as to be banal: democratic reform should be pursued by democratic means. Yet the idea bears expressing as the Liberal government embarks on its promised push to overhaul Canada’s electoral system.

On Tuesday, the Liberals finally moved to create a long-awaited committee to study alternatives to our first-past-the-post system of voting. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised that last year’s federal election would be the last under the current model, which routinely allows governments to form majorities with barely 40-per-cent support (as did his Liberals).

We are not convinced that an alternative system could better capture the will of the electorate. What is clear, however, is that the reform process proposed by the government is insufficiently democratic, given its vast implications for our democracy.

As we have argued before, the best route to legitimate reform is a referendum.

This is especially true given the seeming impossibility of parliamentary agreement. As Liberal House Leader Dominic Leblanc rightly pointed out last year, it is vital that this sort of reform “be done by consensus.” Yet, given the tenor of the current conversation, consensus seems a quixotic goal.

“The Liberals have chosen to maintain their false majority on the committee, stacked the decks,” said New Democrat MP Nathan Cullen after the government tabled its motion. Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, who was appointed as a non-voting member, said she is “perplexed” by her status. Conservatives complained they were not consulted on the committee’s design. This doesn’t sound like the germ of all-party agreement.

As it is, the Liberals lack the mandate to unilaterally adopt either of the main alternatives to first-past-the-post. One, a ranked ballot, is seen to benefit the centrist governing party above all. The other, proportional representation, has been rejected in four provincial referendums over the last 11 years. The government should get the explicit, unambiguous consent of Canadians before it pursues either.

Trudeau has vowed that his government’s decision will be shaped by a broad national consultation. This process should prove invaluable as the Liberal-dominated committee determines which model it prefers. It should drive a needed conversation about our democratic deficits and how to address them. And it should inform how Trudeau goes about selling his chosen model, particularly to the many, us included, who are skeptical that a change would benefit the country.

This committee should not, however, be the final determinant of whether or how our system evolves. Those most fundamental democratic questions should, of course, be left to the people.

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