We finally have a reason for why the Liberals bailed on Electoral Reform—Kellie Leitch, oddly enough.
During an appearance at a community meeting in Iqaluit, Prime Minister Trudeau was approached by an advocate of electoral reform and asked why the Liberals didn’t pull it off.
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“Proportional representation in any form would be bad for Canada,” Trudeau answered.
The woman told him that she respectfully disagreed to which Trudeau responds with some serious shade towards the much-maligned Conservative Leadership candidate who is running on a campaign focused on Canadian values.
“Do you think Kellie Leitch should have her own party?” Trudeau responded. When the protester told Trudeau that “that’s a conversation for another day,” he launched into detail about his thoughts saying he prefered the the ranked ballot system.
“Because if you have a party that represents the fringe voices or the periphery of our perspectives and they hold 10, 15, 20 seats in the House, they end up holding the balance of power,” said Trudeau.
“The strength of our democracy is we have to pull people together into big parties that have all the diversity of Canada and we learn to get along and we don’t learn to amplify small voices, you learn to listen to all voices.”
Which is an excuse, I guess?
Kellie Leitch. Photo via Facebook.
One of the main promises that Trudeau and his group of MPs made during the 2015 election was to reform the electoral system in Canada, as many were fed up with the first-past-the-post system.
At the beginning of February, the Trudeau government walked back from the promise to the anger of many people who voted for the Liberals. NDP democratic reform critic Nathan Cullen called the move “one of the most cynical displays of self-serving politics that this government has displayed.”
Meanwhile in the Hall of Doom, shortly after Trudeau’s comments hit the media, Leitch banged out a response:
“First they dismissed us as the ‘comment section,’” reads her Facebook post. “Then they said we were ‘angry pajamas.’ And now, the Prime Minister has called us ‘fringe.’”
“Standing up for our shared Canadian values and our unique Canadian identity is nothing to be ashamed of,” it went on to say. “It’s something that 2/3rds of Canadians want. It’s something that 90% of Conservatives believe in.”
She then, like any good Canadian far-right figure, asked her supporters to give her money.
Lead photo: Prime Minister Trudeau in Iqaluit, photo via Facebook.
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