Abstract
Having promised that the 2015 national election would be the last conducted under the first-past-the-post (“FPTP”) electoral system, the federal government has initiated efforts to find a replacement. A national debate about the various alternatives to FPTP will undoubtedly continue, but a fundamental issue concerns whether Parliament faces any constraints on its authority to implement electoral reform. Two distinct concerns present themselves. First, does a change to the electoral system require a constitutional amendment, and if so, would such an amendment require provincial consent under the general amending procedure in Part V of the Constitution Act, 1982? Second, would certain electoral systems violate the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms?
Citation Information
Macfarlane, Emmett.
"Constitutional Constraints on Electoral Reform in Canada:Why Parliament is (Mostly) Free to Implement a New Voting System."
The Supreme Court Law Review: Osgoode’s Annual Constitutional Cases Conference
76.
(2016).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.60082/2563-8505.1343
https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/sclr/vol76/iss1/18
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