Article content

OTTAWA — The professor who created the Gallagher Index is flattered his equation was read out in the House of Commons last week, but says Liberals were “unkind” with their treatment of his committee testimony.

Democratic Institutions Minister Maryam Monsef called the index an “incomprehensible formula” as she criticized a special committee on electoral reform Thursday.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Liberals called it 'incomprehensible,' but professor flattered his formula was used in electoral reform debate Back to video

After accusing them of not meeting their mandate with a hefty report, the minister apologized to committee members for her behaviour the next day. Though it featured heavily in her accusations, the Gallagher Index didn’t make it into the apology.

“As I understand it, in fairness to the minister, she was not actually criticizing the merits of the index … as a means of measuring disproportionality, or suggesting that any other index would be a better measure,” Michael Gallagher, head of political science at Trinity College in Dublin, told the National Post in an email.