Federally. STV has been a long standing LPC policy (I should know, I held a policy position for the LPC for more than 6 years).
It was their preferred choice during the ER committee, but the NDP and CPC banded together to kill it reccomending vague PR and a referendum instead.
The long answer is that when we had the opportunity to make a change, during the ERRE committee time period Trudeau was extremely concerned with presenting himself not just as a Harper alternative (IE a “Not Harper PM”) but as fundamentally different from him. Harper had tight, party whipped votes and was known for being very singular in purpose, he got done what he set out to do like it or not (And I did not). Harper did not collaborate he pushed everyone around. On the other hand, despite having a majority government Trudeau set out to govern more with consensus and collaboration, even going so far as to, under some pressure, give up majority control on the ERRE committee at the request of the NDP, making the committee proportional (this decision proved to be fatal to ER).
It was in that committee where all parties essentially refused to budge on their positions and would not negotiate with the LPC to pass recommendations that the LPC could get past both the house (in a free vote) and the senate (which was much more conservative in 2016). The NDP wanted PR so bad, and STV/Ranked Ballots so little, that they sided with the CPC who wanted to kill the entire thing with referendums instead of working with the LPC to get some change through. The result was recommendation that absolutely had no chance of passing the house, and if implemented no chance of passing the senate, and even if passed through both would not have resulted in reform before the next election as a referendum killed that idea entirely.
So rather than act like Harper would have, and use his majority to push through STV over the objections of the other parties, Trudeau chose to drop it. Instead focusing efforts on things he could pass, like the Elections Modernization Act of 2018 and the removal of senators from caucus.
Where does that leave us? What’s the path forward?
Also, isn’t it possible Trudeau knew that leaving things open to consensus would doom the effort and did so as a matter of RealPolitik? It just seems so convenient that the blame could be diffused in that way when, at the time, they held all the cards…
I don’t know that there is a path forward in the near term, at least Trudeau won’t revisit it, the CPC love FPTP, and the NDP won’t take anything less than PR. This is a political impasse.
Is it possible Trudeau masterminded the failure of ER on purpose? I guess anything is possible, but that’s too conspiratorial to me, adding unnecessary complexity when a much logistically simpler, albeit narratively longer and less satisfying story played out right in front of us.
Could Trudeau have forced through STV with his majority? Yes of course but that ran counter to his personal brand, the optimism of his 2015 campaign and his early consensus approach to government.
In any case, the truth of what happened doesn’t matter much anymore because the “Trudeau lies” narrative is simple, easily repeated, and has rooted itself in popular social media discourse as practically a meme.
Just a note, Liberals wanted a ranked system, STV, but the NDP and CPC outvoted them on the ER committee and effectivly killed it.
Provincially or Federally?
Federally. STV has been a long standing LPC policy (I should know, I held a policy position for the LPC for more than 6 years). It was their preferred choice during the ER committee, but the NDP and CPC banded together to kill it reccomending vague PR and a referendum instead.
So why are we still stuck with FPTP?
Well the short answer is politics.
The long answer is that when we had the opportunity to make a change, during the ERRE committee time period Trudeau was extremely concerned with presenting himself not just as a Harper alternative (IE a “Not Harper PM”) but as fundamentally different from him. Harper had tight, party whipped votes and was known for being very singular in purpose, he got done what he set out to do like it or not (And I did not). Harper did not collaborate he pushed everyone around. On the other hand, despite having a majority government Trudeau set out to govern more with consensus and collaboration, even going so far as to, under some pressure, give up majority control on the ERRE committee at the request of the NDP, making the committee proportional (this decision proved to be fatal to ER).
It was in that committee where all parties essentially refused to budge on their positions and would not negotiate with the LPC to pass recommendations that the LPC could get past both the house (in a free vote) and the senate (which was much more conservative in 2016). The NDP wanted PR so bad, and STV/Ranked Ballots so little, that they sided with the CPC who wanted to kill the entire thing with referendums instead of working with the LPC to get some change through. The result was recommendation that absolutely had no chance of passing the house, and if implemented no chance of passing the senate, and even if passed through both would not have resulted in reform before the next election as a referendum killed that idea entirely.
So rather than act like Harper would have, and use his majority to push through STV over the objections of the other parties, Trudeau chose to drop it. Instead focusing efforts on things he could pass, like the Elections Modernization Act of 2018 and the removal of senators from caucus.
Where does that leave us? What’s the path forward?
Also, isn’t it possible Trudeau knew that leaving things open to consensus would doom the effort and did so as a matter of RealPolitik? It just seems so convenient that the blame could be diffused in that way when, at the time, they held all the cards…
I don’t know that there is a path forward in the near term, at least Trudeau won’t revisit it, the CPC love FPTP, and the NDP won’t take anything less than PR. This is a political impasse.
Is it possible Trudeau masterminded the failure of ER on purpose? I guess anything is possible, but that’s too conspiratorial to me, adding unnecessary complexity when a much logistically simpler, albeit narratively longer and less satisfying story played out right in front of us.
Could Trudeau have forced through STV with his majority? Yes of course but that ran counter to his personal brand, the optimism of his 2015 campaign and his early consensus approach to government.
In any case, the truth of what happened doesn’t matter much anymore because the “Trudeau lies” narrative is simple, easily repeated, and has rooted itself in popular social media discourse as practically a meme.