Nate supports improving our representative democracy through changes to our voting system. He is a former member of Fair Vote Canada, advocated for change as a citizen, and included electoral reform as part of his nomination campaign in 2013-14. During the 2019 election, Fair Vote Canada endorsed Nate. To learn more about it, press here.

As a Member of Parliament, Nate has spoken in support of electoral reform and greater proportionality in the House of Commons, in interviews, and in local town hall and constituent meetings.

October 12, 2016 at St. Brigid’s Elementary School we hosted an electoral reform town hall. 

“I agree that proportional representation is a fairer system. It is not just me or the member opposite who thinks that. The 2004 Law Reform Commission report also agrees, after extensive consultation. In its view, mixed member proportional representation was chosen out of nine options that were surveyed.”

On February 2, 2017, Nate published an article in the Huffington Post to apologize to Canadians for the broken promise of electoral reform, to defend reform, and to argue that there was a different path forward that could have been more productive:

“We live in a representative democracy, and our democracy should be more representative of where we live.”

In my conversations with constituents on this topic, I ask a simple question: should a party with less than 40 per cent of the popular vote control 100 per cent of the power in our democracy?

There is an overwhelming consensus that the answer is “no.” Democracy’s legitimacy lies in its authority from the people, and the majority of Canadians are left unrepresented in governments under our current voting system.

True to his word, Nate will continue to be an advocate for electoral reform for as long as I am in Ottawa.

He also appeared on CBC’s As It Happens to discuss his letter of apology and electoral reform.

Later, in the spring of 2017, Nate voted in favour of adopting the ERRE report, one of only two Liberal MPs to do so. Green Party leader, Elizabeth May, referred to Nate as a “very ethical Liberal’ and “Maverick.