Dueling surveys show opposite results on appetite for electoral changes
House of Commons. (parl.gc.ca)
Voters don’t want Canada’s electoral system to change, but they do want a referendum on the Liberal government’s plan to change it.
Wait a minute. Doesn’t a paper released by a local electoral reform committee say just the opposite?
Well, yes, but a random phone survey of 736 people on Wednesday evening reveals quite a different story, according to Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo MP Cathy McLeod.
She said today (Thursday, Oct. 6, 2016) that two-thirds of those surveyed want a referendum on electoral reform.
The survey reached out to more than 8,800 and got 736 responses, “a strong and reliable response rate,” according to the unnamed polling company that conducted the research.
The poll asked three questions. Here they are, with the responses:
Did you know that our voting system is about to change?
Yes- 68.6%
No- 31.4%
Unsure- 18.5%
Do you agree that our voting system should change?
Yes- 41.1%
No- 58.9%
Unsure- 32.3%
Do you think we should have a referendum on whether our voting system should change?
Yes- 66.3%
No- 33.7%
Unsure- 23.2%
“These numbers confirm my survey responses from the spring where 76.8 per cent want a referendum on changing Canada’s voting system,” said McLeod.
“My report to the Special Committee on Electoral Reform will reflect both of these results as well as information I gathered from community forums and direct contact.”
She added, “These results not only clearly indicate that residents want a referendum, it is also important to note that 59 per cent of the respondents don’t want the current system to change.”
The numbers are particularly interesting in the wake of a report from a community group called the Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo Election Reform Committee just four days ago that claimed the opposite is true.
That report, which will also be submitted to the federal special committee, concluded that a “distillation of information” from 10 events over two months showed “an overwhelming desire” for a change in the electoral system, and “no appetite” for a referendum.
So which is it? A change in the electoral system, or no change? Referendum or no referendum?
Looks like we’ll need a referendum to decide whether there should be a referendum to decided if there should be change.
— Rothenburger
ArmchairMayor.ca 
Maybe Cathy should just get used to the fact that Electoral Reform was one of the Liberal campaign planks. They were elected, and now, they do not need to put this to a referendum, it already passed muster with the election of the Liberals.
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I was not in favor of a change. However, being exposed to other means of voting was an eye opener. Leaving the change in the hands of a political party….any political party, would be a mistake.
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Not that it matters a lot, but this writer never saw the survey. Who exactly received the survey?
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If it was a standard telephone survey it would have been random, in other words, not everyone would have been called.
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Given the leading nature of those questions, I am surprised she did not get even more against a referendum. See this article on how changing the wording on a question completely changes the responses you get. Maybe Cathy read it to get the response she was hoping for? http://www.prvote.com/
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