Today, 31. May, 2017, the Parliament of Canada held a vote which was last hope for national electoral reform for now. The vote was formally to “concur in” the report of the Special Committee on Electoral Reform (ERRE). A Yes vote would have meant that Parliament supported the ERRE recommendations, which included proportional representation (PR) in national elections.

As it turns out, that vote went against electoral reform: Yeas 146, Nays 159. I don’t yet know how my MP voted. I expect that the Parliamentary records will make it clear on 1. June or shortly after.

But, for the record, here is what I wrote to my MP, Dr Hedy Fry:

Date: 2017-05-30, 14:22
To: Hon Dr Hedy Fry MP <Hedy.Fry [at] parl.gc.ca>

Subject: Please vote for motion to concur in ERRE committee report, support PR

Dr Fry:

My name is Jim DeLaHunt. I am a constituent in Vancouver Centre (postal code at home: V6E [elided]).
I am writing to ask you to vote in favour of the motion to concur in the Electoral Reform (ERRE) committee report, on May 31st. I am asking you to support bringing a proportional representation (PR) electoral system to Canada.
I am a recent immigrant to Canada. I became a citizen a year and a half ago. I really hope that my first vote as a Canadian in an national election will not be in the archaic First-Past-The-Post system we have today. Everyone’s vote will count for more, and Parliament will better reflect the will of Canadians, under a system of proportional representation.
The promise, “We are committed to ensuring that 2015 will be the last federal election conducted under the first-past-the-post voting system”, repeated thousands of times by Mr Trudeau and still on the Liberal party’s website, filled me with hope.  Breaking that promise disappointed me greatly. But if just a couple dozen Liberal MPs vote to concur in the ERRE report, then there is a chance for Parliament to stand where the Prime Minister failed to.  Your colleagues have voted their conscience and against your party’s government before in this Parliament. You can do it now.

I see electoral reform as a legacy issue for you and for this Parliament. The 13th Parliament probably passed jobs bills and funded infrastructure, but what those MPs probably told their grandchildren was that they were part of An Act to confer the Electoral Franchise upon Women in May 1918 (without a referendum, I’ll note). The 20th Parliament did many things, but which of them has the enduring significance of removing the prohibition on registered Indians voting, thanks to the Canadian Elections Act passed March 1960.

Please take a step that could be a part of your legacy, and make this new Canadian’s experience of national elections much better: vote in favour of the ERRE report, and support PR.

I am interested to hear how you voted, and why. You can contact me at <[elided] [at] jdlh.com>, or by phone at +1-604-376-8953, or by physical mail to 355-1027 Davie St, Vancouver BC V6E 4L2.
Thank you.
Best regards,
–Jim DeLaHunt

[Note: Some identifying information was elided, to preserve a margin of privacy and to make things marginally harder for spammers scraping for email addresses.]

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