Polls find many floating supporters and swing voters moving to the Liberals to counter the message coming from Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives.
Sharon Sommerville, a long time electoral reform advocate with Fair Vote Canada, says this is very much a function of the first-past-the-post electoral system that Canada currently has in place. Sommerville says constituents feel a need to vote strategically and to swing the vote to avoid the party they really don’t want. With the Liberals making progress at the expense of the NDP and the Green Party, this election has been two-horse race and Sommerville says many voters feel forced to make a choice, rather than voting for the party that more closely aligns with their values.
But some third-party candidates in the Toronto Centre riding, who have been running for years without any seats in Parliament, say it doesn’t have to be this way. Other electoral systems like democratic renewal and proportional representation are at the forefront of their platforms.
Met Radio reached out to all registered candidates in Toronto Centre. The Liberals, NDP and Independent candidates declined the request for an interview but did not hear back from the Conservatives or the Greens.
Additional reporting done by Gabriela Ponte, News Coordinator and host of The Final Word at Met Radio.
