I was just thinking what would the house of commons look like if we set the electoral quota to have an MP at 100,000 people per riding - each 100,000, or part of a 100,000, would mean a province would get an MP. It would only mean a small increase in total MPs from the planned 338 to 344.
The low population provinces would still be somewhat over-represented though not nearly as much as they are now.
Province MPs increase
Ontario 129 +8
Quebec 80 +2
BC 45 +3
Alberta 37 +3
Manitoba 13 -1
Saskatchewan 11 -3
Nova Scotia 10 -1
New Brunswick 8 -2
NFLD 6 -1
PEI 2 -2
NWT 1 0
Yukon 1 0
Nunavut 1 0
I know this will never happen because no one has the political guts to reduce the number of seats in the smaller provinces. We would also have to change the constitution because PEI and New Brunswick are restricted by the Senate clause - no province can have fewer MPs than senators.
I can see one complaint to my idea, with an increasing population, every ten years Canada would add 30-40 more seats to the House of Commons. There many people out there that feel Canada has too many MPs already.
1 comment:
If we are in the "never gonna happen zone" merging the four atlantic provines, giving them 24 Senate seats rather than 30 would thus reduce the House seats making it more equal.
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