Citizens talk Canadian election reform at 2 town halls in Winnipeg

Two town halls in Winnipeg on Monday gave Manitobans an opportunity to sound off on election reform in Canada.

Dozens of people made their way to the Dakota Community Centre, where one of the town halls took place, to talk with Winnipeg South Liberal MP Terry Duguidabout issues ranging from online votingto the first-past-the-post electoral system currently used in Canada.

"The government is making some pretty big decisions for an entire nation of people," said Kate Wagar, a constituency assistant in Duguid'soffice, who organized the town hall.

"We're interested in making sure that people are comfortable with the government that's getting elected, and part of that is the process in which they get elected."

• Canada can do better than first-past-the-post electoral system,Monsefsays

Duguid was joined by Minister of Democratic Institutions Maryam Monsef, who also hosted a town hall at the Radisson Hotel downtown on Monday afternoon.

The cross-countrytouris the result of a promise by the federal Liberals, madein the last election campaign, to consult with Canadians and reform the election process.

"They've certainly done a good job so far fulfilling a lot of their platform promises, and I think it's encouraging that in their first year they're tackling an issue as large as electoral reform," Wagar said.

Among the possible changes to Canada'selectoral system is a totalrethink of the first-past-the-post system, under which voters can only votefor one candidate for MP in their riding.

"It's been 150 years nearly since it was instituted here in Canada.Canada was a different place then," Monsef said before the forum.

"Now we have more than two parties and so my team and I are on a cross-country tour to hear from Canadians."

Alternatives to first-past-the-post include aproportional representation system, which can benefit smaller parties, and ranked ballots where voters can selectmore than one candidate.

Other potential questions include whether Canadians would like to see mandatory voting andonline voting in federal elections.

• The pros and cons of Canada's first-past-the-post electoral system
• Electoral reform: a primer on the main alternatives to how we vote

Monsefsaid it's important to hear from Canadians across the country because opinions vary from north to south, east to west.

"There's a range of opinions on this topic across this diverse nation," she said.

People unable to attend the town halls can weigh in on electoral reform in Canada via the federal government's website.