Miller said the elected Green MPs will be there to “hold other parties’ feet to the fire to make sure promises get fulfilled.”

Mixed member proportion (also called MMP), which was the focus of most attention Thursday, isn’t perfect, Miller said. But out of all proportional representation systems, it’s the most similar to what Canada already has in place.

That means it can be rolled out quickly, in time for the next federal election, which could be only two years away.

“There will need to be a massive amount of education for six months to a year,” said Seagram. “But once people, especially young voters, realize their vote will actually count, I think it will catch on like wildfire.”

MMP will be easier to get through not only Parliament, but also the Senate, said the three candidates throughout the debate. Including all parties and all senators in the discussion will also be key to making MMP a reality.

“If we get a majority, we would be open to having conversations with other parties, because we recognize it would be a shallow majority and we need voices from across Canada heard in our government,” said Seagram.

The NDP, Green and Liberal parties would also all be in favour of repealing the Fair Elections Act, or what Miller calls the “Unfair” Elections Act, which the Conservatives passed in 2014. The bill limits what the chief electoral officer can say to the public, stops Elections Canada from conducting investigations and prohibits it from doing public education and outreach, among many other changes.

Elections Canada needs to have power to investigate and bring charges against those who try to commit fraud, so that incidents like the 2011 robocalls don’t happen again, said Seagram.

The Liberals would enable Elections Canada to educate high school students and young voters so they’re ready to go for the next election, said Longfield.

“Right now, Elections Canada has no teeth. We have to put them back in,” he said.

Why change?

Right now, with the first-past-the-post-system, the candidate in each riding with the most votes wins. Canada is one of the few developed nations still using this system, which can yield “false majorities.”

Since the First World War, Canada has had only four real majority governments, said Fair Vote Canada’s Anita Nickerson, who did a presentation about proportional representation before the candidates debated.

The last “true” majorities were in 1958 and 1984, she said. In the 2011 federal election, more than seven million votes were “wasted.” That’s half of all votes cast.

“Those votes elected no one, and those people have no representation,” Nickerson said to the enthralled crowd. “First-past-the-post results in strategic voting, low voter turnout and suppression of minority views.”

A mixed member proportion system is what the NDPs, Liberals and Greens are considering as a more effective alternative to first-past-the-post. Voters would cast two ballots – one for local MPs, as they currently do, and one for new, regional MPs. These regional MPs give voters more choices and ensure more accurate representation in Parliament.

For more information, visit www.campaign2015.fairvote.ca