Special Committee on Electoral Reform

Comité spécial sur la réforme électorale

For immediate release

Ottawa, August 23, 2016 -

The Special Committee on Electoral Reform is inviting Canadians to take part in the electronic consultation it has recently made available on its website.

The Committee’s mandate is to “identify and conduct a study of viable alternate voting systems to replace the first-past-the-post system, as well as to examine mandatory voting and online voting.” This mandate was set out in a motion adopted by the House of Commons on Tuesday, June 7, 2016. The Committee must present its report to the House no later than December 1, 2016.

The questionnaire developed by the Committee provides an introduction to various electoral systems in use around the world and seeks Canadians’ input on voting and the electoral process. The questionnaire asks about the goals of a voting system, current and alternative voting systems, electronic voting, mandatory voting, and how to move forward with electoral system reform. It will take approximatively thirty (30) minutes to complete. The deadline for completing the E-Consultation is Friday, October 7, 2016, at 11:59 p.m. (EDT). The report the Committee presents to the House of Commons will incorporate the results of this consultation.

“The Committee members want as many Canadians as possible to offer their opinions on electoral reform,” said the Chair of the Committee, Mr. Francis Scarpaleggia. “And that is why we are using a full range of mechanisms, such as this online questionnaire, to consult the public in accordance with the motion adopted by the House of Commons,” he added.

Canadians who are interested in contributing to the Committee’s study can also do so in the following ways:

—TWITTER: The Committee members will monitor Twitter (#ERRE #Q) for comments and questions from Canadians. Members may relay these questions to the witnesses in real time.

—REQUESTS TO APPEAR: Requests to appear may be sent to the Committee by email (erre@parl.gc.ca) or by using the appropriate button on the Committee’s website. Please note that the Committee clerks will contact only those who are selected to appear by the Committee members. Requests to appear must be submitted to the Committee no later than October 7, 2016, at 11:59 p.m. (EDT).

—WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS: Any person or organization can submit a brief to the Committee. To be accepted, the brief must be no more than 3,000 words in length (including the summary and footnotes) and be submitted to the Committee no later than October 7, 2016, at 11:59 p.m. (EDT). The Committee recommends highlighting any recommendations and ensuring they correspond to the principles set out in the motion mentioned above. Briefs may be sent to the Committee by email (erre@parl.gc.ca) or by using the appropriate button on the Committee’s website. Once they are translated, briefs will be distributed to the Committee members and posted on the Committee’s website.

Canadians who wish to follow the Committee’s work may do so by visiting its website (http://www.parl.gc.ca/Committees/en/ERRE).