Thus, Upper Canadians could not use their numerical strength to dominate French Canadians as those powers that were directly relevant to the culture and way of life of Lower Canadians would be put beyond the reach of Upper Canadians, being entrusted to the provincial legislatures. Maritimers were also fearful of the large role that Central Canada would inevitably play in the central government.
Their fear that they would be powerless in a House dominated by Central Canada became one of the most important stumbling blocks to the union of the colonies. Several guarantees were sought and obtained by the provinces that feared Ontario's voting strength:. It was thus guaranteed that its deputation would never fall below this number s.
To exercise influence in the federal government, he deemed it important that he not lead a shrinking group of parliamentarians from Quebec. Dawson, The Government of Canada , , p. This was especially important for the Maritime provinces. Representation by Population was an issue that plagued Canada during the Union period.
The strains exhibited by the unequal distribution of population in the country, and hence in the Canadian parliament, are still with us today. Following the Census, calculations revealed that the amalgam formula would result in a substantial increase in the number of seats in the House of Commons both immediately and after subsequent censuses seats were projected after In passing the Representation Act, , Parliament changed the formula and also brought into effect a new "grandfather clause" that guaranteed each province no fewer seats than it had in or during the 33rd Parliament that is, in The revised formula for calculating seats involved several steps: Starting with the seats in the House of Commons in , one seat was allocated to the Northwest Territories, one to the Yukon and one to Nunavut, leaving seats.
The total population of the 10 provinces was divided by to obtain the "electoral quota" or "quotient. If the result left a remainder higher than 0. Then the "senatorial clause" and "grandfather clause" were applied to obtain the final seat numbers. In , the federal government introduced a bill to tackle the significant under-representation of fast-growing provinces, namely Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta, which the formula could not address.
It also aimed to ensure that over-represented provinces would not become under-represented after applying the new formula. The Fair Representation Act , passed in December , resulted in more seats for the three fastest-growing provinces as well as for Quebec, which would have otherwise become under-represented. The number of seats for slower-growing provinces was maintained. Ontario was allotted 15 additional seats, British Columbia and Alberta each gained 6 seats, and Quebec received 3 more seats.
The population of a province is divided by the "electoral quotient" to provide the initial allocation of seats to that province. The electoral quotient for the redistribution process was set by law at ,, which is the estimated average population of the electoral districts in the provinces as at July 1, For future redistributions, the electoral quotient will be adjusted using the average of the rates of provincial population growth since the previous redistribution.
After the initial number of seats per province is obtained, adjustments are made to account for the "senatorial clause" and the "grandfather clause. The "representation rule" is applied to a province whose population was over-represented in the House of Commons at the completion of the last redistribution. If such a province would now be under-represented based on the calculations above, it will be given extra seats so that its share of House of Commons seats is proportional to its share of the population.
Once the special clauses and representation rule are applied, the number of seats for each province has been determined. Three seats are then allocated to the territories — one for each of the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut — to obtain the total number of House of Commons seats.
Application of the "senatorial clause" and "grandfather clause". Go to Facebook. Go to Twitter. Go to Digg. Go to Stumble Upon. Go to Reddit. Send this page to a friend.
Representation in the House of Commons of Canada Preface "The right to vote and the right to be a candidate for election to the House of Commons are necessary but not sufficient conditions to ensure that the electoral law promotes both the equality of the vote and effective representation. Subjects: History — Regional and National History.
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