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PrintRedistributing the House: why the fuss?
If provincial politicians make federal redistribution an issue, the redistribution bill will falter and die on Parliament's Order Paper. So too did the 2007 bill to which the government allotted only one hour of debate, an indication of the government's c
TORONTO—A government bill to increase the size of the House of Commons has once again stirred up a hornet's nest. The Bloc Québécois is upset because Quebec's share of House seats would shrink. Bloc MP Claude Debellefeuille argues, "After recognizing the Quebec nation, the government is now invoking representation by population in order to reduce the political weight of Quebec," and the BQ has introduced a motion to guarantee Quebec 25 per cent of Commons seats. Representation by population of course is nothing new. It was enshrined in the Constitution with Quebec's concurrence at Confederation. Maritimer Donald Savoie, the respected authority on Canada's machinery of executive government, has also criticized the recent bill; Joseph Howe, he suggested, may have been right that Confederation was a bad idea for Nova Scotians.
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Redistributing the House: why the fuss?
If provincial politicians make federal redistribution an issue, the redistribution bill will falter and die on Parliament's Order Paper. So too did the 2007 bill to which the government allotted only one hour of debate, an indication of the government's c
TORONTO—A government bill to increase the size of the House of Commons has once again stirred up a hornet's nest. The Bloc Québécois is upset because Quebec's share of House seats would shrink. Bloc MP Claude Debellefeuille argues, "After recognizing the Quebec nation, the government is now invoking representation by population in order to reduce the political weight of Quebec," and the BQ has introduced a motion to guarantee Quebec 25 per cent of Commons seats. Representation by population of course is nothing new. It was enshrined in the Constitution with Quebec's concurrence at Confederation. Maritimer Donald Savoie, the respected authority on Canada's machinery of executive government, has also criticized the recent bill; Joseph Howe, he suggested, may have been right that Confederation was a bad idea for Nova Scotians.
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