Trudeau government prepares push on bills to reform how elections fought, conducted, March 26

The Liberals’ plan to make it easier to vote in 2019 omits one thing that they had already promised in 2015. Bringing back vouching and making the voter information cards a valid form of identification for voting purposes are both laudable changes. But changing the actual voting system from first-past-the-post to some form of proportional representation — as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised in 2015, but later abandoned — would make a major difference because it would make the actual votes that people cast count more. That would make more people want to come out and vote because they would have a far greater chance of having their voices represented in Ottawa. Trudeau claims that he is all about equity and open democracy. Words matter, but not by themselves.

Geoff Rytell, Toronto

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