e-4058 (Democratic process)

Petition to the Government of Canada

• The record-low voter turnout of 43% in the last Ontario election demonstrates a trend of increasing voter disengagement;
• The distorted results from the most recent federal election clearly illustrate the need for electoral reform;
• Polls consistently show that a majority of voters in every province, all age groups and all major political parties support the principle of proportional representation;
• Citizens' Assemblies have considerable legitimacy and public trust because they are non-partisan, truly randomly-selected, representative bodies of citizens with no vested interest in the outcome;
• Citizens’ Assemblies allow for more nuanced public deliberation than simple yes/no referenda, and are immune from manipulation by disinformation campaigns.
• Citizens’ Assemblies have been used successfully in Canada, Australia, Belgium, France, Ireland, Scotland and the U.K. to tackle difficult issues; and,
• A Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform would give citizens a leadership role in building consensus on a specific model for electoral reform for Canada, and would need to be established as soon as possible to enable their recommendations to be adopted before the next federal election.