If you think adding 30 more overpriced pillow-fighters in the House of Commons is a waste of time, money, space or all of the above, you’re not alone. An Angus Reid poll released yesterday shows that very few people in Canada welcome the idea of increasing the number of seats in the Lower House.
Less than half support the plan, with the strongest opposition coming from the province who stands to lose the most, Quebec. Only 17% of Canadians believe that adding representatives will be a good thing for the nation. The poll was conducted from April 6-7 among 1,006 randomly selected Canadian adults with a margin or error of 3.1%.
The plan is to increase the number of seats in the Lower House of Parliament from 308 to 338. This would give Ontario 18 new seats, British Columbia 7, and Alberta 5. 38% of Canadians outright support the proposal, with 45% opposing it. The largest benefit of the increase is to the Conservative Party with this proposed measure, with 39% of respondents voicing this opinion.
But it doesn’t matter what you think, because the legislation proposes changing the formula for seat distribution in the House of Commons based on the release of the 2011 census. The representation of the provinces is updated after every decennial census according to a formula established in the Constitution. Since Quebec can’t lose its base of 75 seats, the only option is to grow the government.
Here are the vital statistics:
It is interesting how the provinces not getting additional seats are upset about the rebalancing. So much for the fairness myth.
Well sure, politics is nothing if not self-serving. Also somewhat interesting to note that although BC, Alberta, and Ontario support the move, they also all agree it’s bad for Canada.
Redistribute the existing seats. Just raise the populations number that each MP represents.
It is not rocket science
Basically, we would all prefer that the excessive 75 for Quebec could be lowered, but that would necessitate reopening the Constitution. The poll reflects that we want more fairness, but not more MPs. This is an easy way for the CPC to accomplish some of what we want – and long overdue.
Obviously the CPC is afraid of damaging their reputation in Quebec forever by taking away any of their seats (or even discussing it). It’s too bad because clearly the majority of Canadians would support exactly such a measure.
What has been changed in the past can always be changed in the future. So what if Quebec cries if we try and make fair and proper representation in the House of Commons. They won’t be alone in crying it seems, the other “have not” provinces whose population is lower will cry with them, if the poll is a good indication. It would only be a true reflection of their loss of population and gain elsewhere.
You could say that most people only support fair representation when it is not fair!
Time for the government in power to actually do some good for Canada and this would be a great place to start. When they are talking about cutting the budget how can increasing the size of the HoC, with the inherent increase in salaries and office costs, be allowed?