Haggling over Parliamentary seats

Tug-of-war between the Ontario and Federal governments

Why should the vote of an Ontarian count for less than that of any other Canadian? The question has sparked fiery controversy between Queen’s Park and the Federal government on Bill C-22.
The bill looks ahead to the increase in Parliamentary seats – from 308 to 330 – slated for 2011 and shuffles the number of MPs to be elected in each province. The 22 new seats are the bone of contention. On the one side, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty is accusing Ottawa of “penalizing Ontario, already abundantly underrepresented on Parliament Hill.” On the other side, the Harper cabinet responds that the bill “tries, on the contrary, to reduce the existing gap between the number of voters and their MPs.”
At present, three provinces are underrepresented: Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta. Ontario is home to 38 percent of the Canadian population (11.4 million people, according to the 2001 census). Ontario elects 106 MPs, (34.4% of the total, a 3.6% difference. British Columbia is 1.3% short; Alberta is short by 0.8%).
These data, however, have greater significance if one considers the average of a riding population. The ridings in these three provinces have at least 106,000 people, but in the rest of Canada the average ranges between Saskatchewan’s 69,000 people and Nova Scotia’s 82,000, or New Brunswick’s 72,000.
In consideration of the average size of the ridings, Ontario is underrepresented by 10.5%. British Columbia and Alberta follow suit.
It’s easy to get lost in such a sea of data, numbers, statistics and projections.
Yet, what the public opinion might mistake for a simple political squabble between the Premiers and the Federal Government to gain a handful of seats, in reality turns into a battle on the principle at the base of a Parliamentary democracy: the principle of representation. Every vote should have the same weight as any other, regardless of the residence of the voter.
“In future,” declared McGuinty, “when decisions of national importance will have to be taken, the votes of Ontarians will count less. In summary, Ontario will be underrepresented.”
Even worse, according to Statistics Canada, the population of Ontario will grow faster than the rest of the country. Analysts underscore that this will only worsen the representation deficit on Parliament Hill from the current 10.5 % to 12.2% in 2011, then 13.5% in 2021, and 14.7% in 2031.
Queen’s Park regards this situation as unacceptable, and the Premier asked the Prime Minister to amend the bill.
The Federal Government, on the other hand, informed McGuinty that they have no intention to modify their stance.
“McGuinty probably did not fully understand the bill,” declared Peter Van Loan, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons. “According to the provisions of the bill under discussion on Parliament Hill, Ontario will get 10 additional seats, while the other two provinces experiencing strong demographic growth, British Columbia and Alberta, will get five and seven seats respectively.”
“Moreover,” added the Tory politician, “only these three provinces will benefit from the 22 new seats. “The other provinces will keep their existing seats,” continued Van Loen. “For this reason, Dalton McGuinty’s demands are completely out of place.”

Publication Date: 2007-12-16
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=7943