Shame on Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs!
Collecting signatures for longest ballot project in La
Salle--Émard--Verdun, August 2024.
On October 7, 2025, the members of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs (PROC) welcomed Tomas Szuchewycz, spokesperson for the Longest Ballot Committee (LBC), for a meeting to "discuss the actions taken by the LBC." Namely, this was to discuss its mobilization to get as many candidates as possible on the ballot to force a public discussion on the need for democratic renewal, especially regarding the current first-past-the-post electoral system.
An EKOS poll from January 2025 indicated that 68 per cent of Canadians want the first-past-the-post voting system to be replaced with a system of proportional representation. Another from the same firm from December 2022 concluded that 76 per cent of Canadians support the creation of a national assembly of the people on electoral reform. Meanwhile, the spectacle put on by the MPs throughout this session eloquently illustrated the conflict of interest which the LBC has been denouncing and rightly so.
Thus, rather than seriously
addressing the issue raised by the LBC,
members of the committee chose to ask questions that sidestepped
the
essence of the matter. Instead, they sought the opinion of an
"expert"
invited "in a personal capacity" to find ways to prevent the LBC
from
continuing its work
so that the peoples' demands for democratic renewal are finally
heard
and respected!
The LBC representative, Tomas, responded clearly and concisely to questions, especially those from Conservative MPs who sought to accuse the LBC of "misrepresentation" or "obstruction" in the electoral process. While Tomas calmly corrected some facts that a member of PROC had just misrepresented, the member and the committee chair made thinly veiled threats of criminal prosecution. Such intimidation is outrageous and unacceptable!
I salute the work of the LBC and the courage of its representative before a House of Commons committee whose sole mandate is clearly to silence the voice of the people. Their aim is to prevent the people from achieving a fairer electoral system, under the responsibility of an independent body and not under the control of the cartel parties that profit from the current system and, regardless of their stripes, attack those fighting for renewal.
This article was published in
Volume 56 Number 3 - March-April, 2026
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/TML2026/Articles/M56038.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca