June 17, 2021

The Hon. Dominic LeBlanc Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs

Via email

Minister LeBlanc,

I am writing to you today about electoral reform, an issue that is important for many constituents in my riding.

As you know, in 2015, the federal government made a commitment to electoral reform but a lack of consensus from both the public and the Special Committee on Electoral Reform resulted in not following through on that commitment.

Electoral reform remains a top of mind issue for Davenport constituents and they are strongly advocating for the establishment of a National Citizen’s Assembly along the same lines of the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform created a number of years ago in both BC and in Ontario. The Assembly would examine our electoral system at the national level. I fully support this idea. I would like to also ask if you would consider also supporting this idea and exploring ways that our federal government can activate a national citizen’s assembly.

While I’m not sure that our system needs to change, I do believe that it would be healthy and timely to review our electoral system through a national assembly in order to determine if we have the best system in place and to assure that Canadians maintain confidence in our electoral system and democratic process.

This might also be an opportunity to look at some of the broader concerns around the essential systems and structures that support strong democratic institutions and to determine if adjustments are needed to shore up and ensure the health and strength of our democratic process.

I think we need to find ways to make Canadians more resistant to dealing with the flood of fake information (similar to Finland’s education model) and how best to ensure we have access to a strong, independent, and fact-based media/news ecosystem.

There might even be the potential to look at internal government systems such as committee structures and how to make them more efficient, independent, and less partisan.

Finally, I believe it is important to look at new ways to engage Canadians at a time when we know many are becoming more and more disengaged, and where we risk an erosion of trust in our institutions. These are all elements that I believe we need to review.

I want to thank you for your leadership during these unprecedented times, I’m truly proud of the extraordinary team that we have, and proud of the Canada that we are working so hard to create. I would be grateful if you would consider these ideas and am happy to meet to discuss this issue further if you wish. Please let me know how I can be of assistance.

My very best regards,

Julie Dzerowicz Member of Parliament Davenport

cc Parliamentary Secretary Kevin Lamoureux cc Member of Parliament Nathaniel Erskine-Smith