The federal government has tabled legislation that could give Alberta and British Columbia six additional MPs each by the October 2015 election.
The Fair Representation Act tabled in Parliament yesterday would also give Ontario 15 additional seats and three more to Quebec, raising the total number of MPs to 338 from 308.
It fulfills a Conservative election promise to add more MPs to increase representation for the fastest-growing provinces. A political backlash in Quebec about a dilution of that province’s parliamentary clout led the Conservatives to add three MPs, even though the Quebec population is relatively stable.
As a result of the proposed changes, Alberta, B.C. and Ontario will still have fewer Commons seats than their population would warrant, but it will be closer to the representation-by-population principle than is currently the case. Alberta’s MP count will rise to 34 and British Columbia’s to 42.
Quebec, with its additional seats increasing the count to 78, will be slightly over-represented, as will Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the Atlantic provinces where minimum seat counts are guaranteed.
Debate on the legislation was expected to begin Nov. 2 and the government is likely to move quickly to limit discussion so the bill can pass in time to affect redistribution before the 2015 election.
Because many of the new seats will be in the West and Ontario suburbs, which rewarded the Conservatives with enough seats May 2 to form a majority, it is expected that many of the parliamentary additions will be Conservative-friendly ridings in future elections.
Edmonton MP Tim Uppal, minister of state for democratic reform, said the seat additions are a “principled and reasonable” move to make Commons representation fairer.
Without a change in the formula, voters in the faster growing provinces would fall further behind in the equality of their vote and the size of their ridings, he said.
But the smaller provinces or provinces with little population growth would still have their seat levels preserved.
Prince Edward Island, with a guarantee of four seats for a population of 146,000, has the lowest voters-to-MP ratio in the country.
Some suburban Toronto ridings contain almost as many constituents for one MP as P.E.I. has for four.
