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Has electoral reform already run out of time? That’s the provocative thesis parliamentary scholar James Bowden lays out in an article for the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, and on his blog parliamentum.org. It is hard to dismiss out of hand.

It was already known that time was scarce if the government were to meet its platform commitment that 2015 would be “the last federal election conducted under the first-past-the-post voting system,” or its corollary pledge to have the requisite legislation in place by May of next year.

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The seven-month delay in striking an all-party committee for that purpose leaves even less time. The committee is now enjoined to finish consulting the public by Oct. 1, and to report back with its recommendations by Dec. 1.

But even if the committee is able to complete its work on time, and even if the government is able (or of a mind) to draft the legislation and shepherd it through Parliament in the months that follow, there remain a number of practical and procedural hurdles to overcome.