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Compressed timetable for achieving new voting system in time for 2019 election

Last Updated Sep 16, 2016 at 3:20 am MDT

OTTAWA – Consultations on electoral reform are shifting into high gear as the clock ticks down on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s promise that the 2015 federal election would be the last conducted under the first-past-the-post voting system.

Here’s the timetable:

— Sept. 19 to Oct. 7: all-party committee that’s been exploring alternative voting systems conducts cross-country consultation tour.

— Sept. 16 to Oct. 1: Democratic Institutions Minister Maryam Monsef completes her own cross-country listening tour.

— Oct. 14: deadline for MPs to report back on the findings from their own townhalls on electoral reform.

— Dec. 1: committee issues a final report, with recommendations.

— October 2017: The government must have legislation authorizing a new voting system in place by next fall, passed by both the House of Commons and Senate. Chief electoral officer Marc Mayrand has warned that Elections Canada needs at least two years to implement a new system in time for the next election, scheduled for October 2019.