Your experience mirrors that of many Canadians. That betrayal on electoral reform was particularly painful because it wasn’t just a typical policy promise - it was about fixing the very foundation of our democracy.

What’s frustrating is that this wasn’t the first time Liberals promised and failed to deliver electoral reform. As far back as 1919, Liberal leaders from Mackenzie King to Pierre Trudeau have campaigned on PR during elections, only to abandon it once in power.

The 2015 broken promise was especially egregious because Trudeau later admitted he “should have immediately shut down talk about proportional representation” and that Liberals were “deliberately vague” to appeal to reform advocates. All while knowing he only wanted Instant runoff voting (a non-proportional system that would benefit the Liberal Party).

Both major parties have calculated that maintaining the broken system serves their interests. When 68.6% of Liberal MPs voted against even creating a Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform in 2024, it revealed their true priorities.

I’ve concluded that supporting parties with consistent records on PR (like the Greens and NDP) is the only viable path forward. Looking at Carney’s responses on electoral reform so far, it appears the Liberal calculation hasn’t changed. They’re hoping we’ll forget again.

The hard truth is that parties benefiting from a broken system rarely fix it voluntarily. Until we make proportional representation a ballot box issue that costs them elections, the cycle will continue.