P.E.I. electoral reform process continues with next series of public meetings

Islanders will have the opportunity to shape the content of a possible plebiscite on electoral reform as the next round of public consultations begins Tuesday.

A series of six community forums over the next month will set out to determine what question the plebiscite should ask and the electoral options Islanders will choose from, said Liberal MLA Jordan Brown, chairman of the province's special committee on democratic renewal.

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"You know, we would want to see what people really like or dislike about those possible options, and see whether there's an ability to, kind of, minimize the dislikes and maximize the likes in any of them so that they have a maximum chance to succeed," he said.

This set of forums follows a series of public meetings held last October and November that focused on a white paper issued in July. An interim report on those meetings, tabled in the P.E.I. Legislature last fall, recommended a plebiscite take place in November 2016.

Meanwhile, Brown said he feels Premier Wade MacLauchlan has gone out of his way to steer clear of the electoral reform process.

MacLauchlan was criticized last week by a group lobbying for proportional representation for comments he made in his year-end interview with CBC News Compass.  

In the interview, MacLauchlan said he's not a believer in proportional representation, and that Islanders shouldn't be trying to "upset the apple cart" when it comes to electoral reform.

In 2005, 63 per cent of Islanders rejected a proposal for proportional representation. Turnout was low and many said the process was hurried and poorly organized.