Adding a mere 22 seats is hardly going change things all that much. People in the populous regions of Canada, particularly in our biggest urban centers, will still be getting shafted. Indeed, if the government where to commit itself to giving an MP for every 70,000 people the new numbers would break down as follows. Ontario would gain 67 seats, Quebec 27, BC 23, Alberta 19, and Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia 2 each. All total, a 142 seats should be added, most of those in Urban areas. There would still be outliers. PEI, and the territories would still be over represented, but I do not think this would bother anyone.
Some say that people in the less populous areas of the country need 1.5 to 6 times the representation because more populous provinces are more powerful then less populous ones, but that is weak argument. People living in the less populous regions of the country already have far more clout on a per person basis by virtue of the fact that the provincial and territorial jurisdictions in which they are a member or far less populous. Comparing province to province is a misnomer. It is comparing apples to oranges. What one should be comparing is the political resources of people in any two ridings. When one does this it is abundantly clear that people in Canada’s urban centers in particular are getting the short end of the stick. Indeed, PEI and its population of 135,851 and 4 MPs, as a province, has revenue streams available to it that are simply not available to Oak Ridges Markham and its population of 169, 642 and 1 MP. Oak Ridges Markham does not get Federal transfer payments.
2 comments:
You are simply mistaken. In a place like Northern Ontario, Northern Alberta, Northern BC. you have large ridings some the ridings are bigger that some small countries. This makes it hard for MPs to visit all regions of the riding. So small populations are not getting representation that they deserve.
You do realize that that under such a plan rural BC, Alberta, and Ontario would get more MPs. Anyway, as I have said before, rural MPs should be given more resources. They need many more office personal, and indeed offices such that the concerns of the people in that region can be heard. Where you and I part company is that find it offensive that politically speaking the needs of 170,000 people in Markham are equal to the wants of 30,000 people in PEI.
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