Electoral reform is one of the issues being discussed this morning as the dust settles from yesterday’s federal election.
The Liberal Party won the most seats in parliament, but the Conservatives won the popular vote.
The Angus Reid Institute says the Liberal path to minority victory ran through Ontario. The Conservative Party of Canada gained 20 extra seats, yet failed to topple the incumbent Liberals.
Angus Reid says it was a similarly disappointing night for the NDP who saw a surge in the waning days of the campaign. It says that appears based on a shifting and uncommitted left of centre base, which either switched to the Liberals at the last moment, or stayed home altogether.
Angus Reid says voters, especially those on the left of centre, were uncertain about what they wanted, and even a week before the election, only half of voters were locked into their top choice.
It says the Conservatives’ support base was solid, while the NDP and Liberals were less certain.
That, according to Angus Reid, was likely due to last minute votes from New Democrats who made the choice to vote strategically.
Both the Liberals and Conservatives did better than the latest Angus Reid survey showed, but the NDP and Green lost support from pre-election numbers on voting day.
The Conservatives ended the night with more votes than the Liberals but with considerably fewer seats.