Bill 199 set to revive electoral reform debate
The bill proposed by a Québec solidaire MNA calls for mixed-member proportional electoral system
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Three months ago, Québec solidaire MNA Alexandre Leduc tabled Bill 199, a bill that would amend Quebec’s Election Act to establish a new mixed electoral system with regional compensation.
The bill aims to revive public debate and restore media attention on the adoption of a mixed-member proportional (MMP) electoral system.
But now, public distrust continues to stall the bill’s momentum.
“I think people are cynical about it,” Leduc said. “In the vast majority of surveys, Quebecers are in favour of this electoral reform, but I think people may be tired of seeing politicians break their promises.”
Under the current first-past-the-post (FPTP) system, electors can only vote for one candidate in their riding, with the candidate who secures the most votes winning the seat in their legislature. Critics of the system claim that every ballot cast for a losing candidate is essentially wasted, creating a false majority.
In its place, Bill 199 proposes that the 129 seats in the National Assembly be divided into 80 division seats and 49 regional seats. Voters would be allowed to cast two votes, one for a candidate running for a division seat and the other for an independent candidate running for a regional seat or for a specific party’s regional list of candidates.
“The 2018 election was supposed to be the last election in the previous electoral system,” Leduc said. “Unfortunately, the CAQ betrayed their engagement and didn’t modify the electoral system. They did the same as the federal [government]: promised to change it and didn’t.
In May 2018, François Legault’s CAQ party signed an agreement with the Parti Québécois, Québec solidaire and the Green Party of Quebec to introduce an MMP electoral system by October 2019.
The Agreement was led by the Mouvement démocratie nouvelle (MDN).
The MDN is a Quebec-based non-partisan citizen organization that advocates for a proportional and regionalized voting system.
Following the 2018 election, the CAQ government introduced Bill 39 to implement the proposed reform. However, the CAQ cancelled its plans to hold a referendum on electoral reform ahead of the 2022 election.
Disadvantages under the current system
The 2022 Quebec election was ultimately held under the existing FPTP system, which led the CAQ to win a landslide majority vote with 90 of 125 seats while securing only 41 per cent of the popular vote.
In contrast, Québec solidaire received 15.5 per cent of the vote but secured only 11 seats, while the Conservative Party of Quebec earned 12.9 per cent but failed to obtain a single seat.
On the Island of Montreal, the CAQ has only two of the 27 provincial electoral district seats, while the Quebec Liberal Party and Québec solidaire have 16 and eight seats, respectively.
According to Leduc, another important goal of Bill 199 is to secure engagement with other parties, especially the Parti Québécois, which has been leading the polls ahead of the upcoming election.
“They didn’t see the value in investing in public transit in Montreal. I think they didn’t see any value in helping Montreal because they have no one elected on the Island of Montreal.” — Shirley Barnea, Transition Montréal
False majorities cause municipal frustrations
Shirley Barnea, a Transition Montréal politician and climate activist, said she believes that the current Quebec government has been neglecting Montreal's public transit because the CAQ’s voters are concentrated outside the city.
“It's very difficult to work when the provincial government is against us,” Barnea said. “They didn't see the value in investing in public transit in Montreal. I think they didn't see any value in helping Montreal because they have no one elected on the Island of Montreal.”
Barnea said she believes that adopting the MMP system in the Quebec National Assembly would better reflect Montreal’s political interests, as municipalities remain subordinate to the provincial government.
“If we had a proportional system, the CAQ would not have its fake majority,” Barnea said. “We wouldn't have such a dominance of a party that's hostile to Montreal.”
During the 2025 Montreal municipal election, Barnea said she encountered several structural disadvantages of the FPTP system while running for city councillor in the Jeanne-Mance district.
Transition Montréal received nearly 9 per cent of the vote across city council races but failed to win a single seat.
Meanwhile, Ensemble Montréal and Projet Montréal gained 34 and 25 seats while securing about 39 per cent and 37 per cent of the vote, respectively, under the same system.
Barnea also echoed Leduc’s sentiment that people have become cynical about electoral reform.
“After a certain time, we lose faith in all these initiatives,” Barnea said. “I don't know what can be done to restore public confidence, except actually implementing electoral reform.”
Why big parties still want the current system
According to Concordia University political science professor Dónal Sean Gill, in Quebec’s current political climate, there’s little incentive for a government to enact election reform.
“It's difficult for parties to imagine removing the system that brought them to power,” Gill said. “It's a little bit like burning the ladder that got you to the top of the building.”
Gill said that electoral reform is usually not an attractive issue for voters, so most political parties do not view it as a winning campaign issue. However, he agreed with Leduc’s argument that it has contributed to some degree of electoral cynicism.
“It’s probably not a huge amount amongst the average voter, just amongst those who are hyper-politically engaged and are motivated by the electoral reform issue,” Gill said.
The future of electoral reform
Leduc said that members of the Quebec National Assembly should cooperate with the MDN to bring grassroots demands for electoral reform back onto the political agenda.
“The MDN needs to become a bit more political and mobilize their members,” Leduc said. “Because if the people don't enrage themselves about the promise being broken, nothing will happen.”
Meanwhile, Gill said that municipal-level politicians and civic groups should encourage provincial-level politicians to consider electoral reform as an important issue.
“The path forward for electoral reform is for a party to win a municipal election with electoral reform and then to successfully implement it,” Gill said. “If there's a benefit to it, people will start to push for it at the other levels of government.”
Barnea emphasized that adopting the MMP system will improve the representation of people’s interests by incorporating diverse voices.
“We can't have a system that works for us if we don't put in the work,” Barnea said. “That’s how democracy is meant to work. It's meant to be the power to the people.”
