The Trudeau government is mailing postcards to every Canadian household this month to find out how people feel about the way they elect MPs, the National Post has learned. More than 13 million full-colour postcards were being printed up this week which, when they land in mailboxes at the end of the month, will encourage Canadians to go to a website — mydemocracy.ca or mademocratie.ca — and answer questions about their democratic values. The websites are “parked” right now with Internet web hosting company GoDaddy.com but will go live no later than Dec. 1, said a senior government official. The online consultations, which will close Dec. 31, will be the last of three extensive rounds of consultations on electoral reform under way since the spring. This means the Trudeau government is expected to declare its preference for how, if it all, to change the way MPs are elected early in the new year.
A senior government official, who confirmed Sunday information the Post received independently about the mail-out plan, said this last round of consultations was not a last-minute idea, but one the government had planned to do early on.
The official also cautioned the mail-out should not be construed as a referendum, nor is it a survey or a poll. It will, however, contain many questions that ask respondents what they value most in Canada’s democracy. Ottawa is broadly committed to publishing the data it collects in addition to any interpretations it might make.
The government’s goal, with this and several other rounds of consultations, has been to build up as much political legitimacy for whatever decision it makes.
Full Article: Exclusive: Trudeau government to mail every household in Canada questions on electoral reform | National Post.