One of the MPs investigating an alternative system of voting for federal elections will be speaking at a Fair Vote Canada town hall-style meeting on electoral reform this Saturday in Langley.
Cloverdale-Langley City MP John Aldag, who was appointed in June to the Special House of Commons committee that is reviewing Canada’s electoral system, is expected to report on the “activity and progress of the committee so far,” Fair Vote Canada volunteer Timothy Jones said.
Jones said Fair Vote favours proportional representation, where the percentage of votes earned decides the number of seats a party wins in the house of commons.
In his view, the current so-called first-past-the-post system means a government can win a majority of seats without a majority of the votes because it allows parties with strong “localized” support, like the Conservatives in Alberta, to win seats while those with “generalized” support across the country, like the Green party, are excluded.
Jones said there will be presentations at the town hall meeting on the existing voting system and some of the alternatives, a questionnaire designed to discover what voters value and would like to see in a new voting system and an opportunity for people to speak to the subject.
A report on the event, the questionnaire and the public input from the microphone will be submitted to the Electoral Reform Committee, Jones said.
The event will take place Saturday (Aug. 27) from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the United Churches of Langley hall at 21562 Old Yale Rd.