The outrage against the Trudeau Government for scrapping a promise on electoral reform continues with a week of action planned across the country.
In Ottawa, more than 100 people gathered on Parliament Hill on Sunday to protest the decision.
“We’re here to let them know we’re not going away,” said Daniel Rae, who organized the rally. “This issue doesn’t die just because Mr. Trudeau said it was off the table.
During the election campaign Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a promise to change the way Canadians vote by the 2019 federal election.
“We are committed to ensuring that the 2015 election will be the last federal election using first-past-past-the-post,” Trudeau said.
The decision to abandon the promise was based on public consultations with Canadians, according to Trudeau, who said in a statement “a clear preference for a new electoral system, let alone a consensus, has not emerged.”
Rae, a first time voter, said he cast a ballot for the Federal Liberals because of the promise to change the way Canadians vote, and now he feels betrayed.
“2015 was my first election, and one of the main reasons I felt OK with voting Liberal was because they were going to do this electoral reform, and make strategic voting like that no longer necessary,” Rae said.
On top of Sunday’s protest, Rae is asking Canadians to take part in a ‘tweet storm’ on Wednesday, as well as a protest on Saturday for National Day of Action.
Real Lavergne, with Fair Vote Canada, said he and many Canadians would rather see Proportional Representation in Canada, where the number of seats a party gets is tied to the percentage of votes they receive.
The group will continue to push for change, and if the decision is not reversed, they plan to grow louder.
“Private members bills, constitutional challenge, this is against the Charter of Rights… worst comes to worst don’t vote for them next time.