The image is an infographic titled "The Liberal's Broken Promise: Electoral Reform" that displays a vertical timeline with colored dots and information boxes chronicling electoral reform events in Canada.
The timeline shows six key events:
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June 2015 (pink dot): Campaign Promise - Justin Trudeau pledges: "We are committed to ensuring the 2015 election will be the last election using first-past-the-post."
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October 2015 (blue dot): Election Victory - Liberals win a majority government with 39.5% of the popular vote, securing 184 seats (54% of the House of Commons).
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June 2016 (light blue dot): Special Committee Created - The Electoral Reform Committee (ERRE) is established to study options. The committee conducts consultations across Canada.
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December 2016 (red dot): Committee Recommendations - The ERRE recommends proportional representation. 88% of electoral experts consulted favoured proportional representation.
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February 2017 (blue dot): Promise Abandoned - PM Trudeau abandons electoral reform, claiming "no consensus" despite clear committee recommendations and public consultations.
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October 2024 (black dot): Looking Back - Trudeau admits he should have "immediately shut down talk about proportional representation" and that Liberals were "deliberately vague."
Below the timeline is a "Key Statistics" box showing:
- 63% of voters cast ballots for parties promising electoral reform
- 80% of town hall participants asked for proportional representation
- 71% wanted parties to govern together
The infographic includes a Creative Commons license icon in the bottom left corner and a QR code in the bottom right. The footer cites sources: House of Commons Special Committee on Electoral Reform, Fair Vote Canada, Policy Options.
No, that's exactly what our first-past-the-post system gives us. It's not a question of belief, it's a mathematical reality.
There are probably a few ridings out there with plausible three-way battles where one could influence it in any of those ways. And there are many more ridings where one party is already a shoo-in, and in those cases you can vote your conscience as well knowing that it at least won't negatively impact anything and will "send a message" in whatever small way the popular vote matters. But in many ridings there are only two plausible choices, and one of those choices could quite possibly lead to the ruin of Canada. This is the reality of first-past-the-post systems. I hate it, but it's what we currently have.
Then after the election, you better be fighting your hardest to get proportional representation.
Get started with this link: Simple things you can do right now, to grow the proportional representation movement—so we never have to vote for the lesser of the evils, have a two party system, "split the vote", or strategic vote.