All Canadians should be able to have their say on changes made to the country's election model. That's the feeling of Selkirk-Interlake-Eastman MP James Bezan, as the federal government discusses electoral reform. The Liberals have stated they'll not be moving forward with a referendum on proposed changes to the country's elections, but rather making the decision at the government level. Bezan feels that could lead to changes that solely benefit the party in power, rather than all Canadians.

"We are concerned what will be put in place will only benefit the Liberal party of Canada. Any changes that are going to be done to our current system, which has served Canada well since Confederation for almost 150 years, called 'first-past-the-post, could be changed significantly."

Bezan notes during the campaign period the Liberals committed to changing the electoral system, but didn't outline which model would be put in place. Preferential ballots have been the main focus of discussion surrounding election changes, but Bezan has concerns about taking that approach.

"We're taking about proportional representation where every vote counts, but if you do pure proportional representation you get rid of the riding system. Essentially, in my opinion, you'd have a hyper-partisan House of Commons, because everyone in the House of Commons would be coming off a party list. I've seen that during the election monitoring Ukraine where they had a pure proportional representation electoral system."

He says another option would be mixed proportional, similar to what's seen in Mexico or New Zealand, where one slate of candidates represent the ridings, while the remainder helps fill the slots selected through the preferential candidate system.

Bezan says no matter what electoral system is proposed, the final decision shouldn't be made by the government, but rather by Canadians.

"From a Conservative Party standpoint, our biggest issue, is regardless of what is proposed, it should be decided by Canadians in a referendum on what system they want. It shouldn't be rammed down our throats by the government of the day, that more than likely will favour the government of the day."