Electoral Districts (Federal & Provincial) [Archive]

UrbanWaterloo

04-04-2010, 02:02 PM

Ontario gets lion's share as government bill adds 30 new Commons seats
(CP) – April 1, 2010 - http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5j-xtHwRiVqrhUmEOMO1g7vWBI65w

OTTAWA — New government legislation will add 30 new MPs to the House of Commons.

Under the bill introduced Thursday, the Commons would grow to 338 seats, with Ontario getting 18 new MPs, British Columbia getting seven and Alberta getting five.

The representation for the other provinces would not change.

Steven Fletcher - minister of state for democratic reform - said the idea is to give greater representation to the faster-growing regions of the country.

"If passed, this legislation will give fair representation to the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario, while protecting the seat counts of the other provinces," he said.

A similar bill was introduced in 2007, but was withdrawn over complaints that Ontario would remain under-represented.

The number of seats in the Commons has grown in fits and starts since Confederation, when there were only 181 MPs.

Normally, the seating is adjusted after each census according to a complex formula adopted in 1985.

That formula would have given Ontario only four new seats, with British Columbia getting two and Alberta one.

The government says the 1985 formula was designed to slow the growth of the Commons and penalized some regions.

"The proposed legislation would update the formula so that future readjustments better reflect the democratic representation of faster-growing provinces."

Fletcher said he hopes the new legislation is passed before the next routine update which is supposed to follow release of the 2011 census.

Pure representation by population is almost impossible in Canada because the Constitution guarantees that no province can have fewer MPs than it has senators. That means Prince Edward Island, with about 141,000 people, is assured of four MPs - or one for every 35,000 people.

If that ratio were accepted nationally, it would require more than 970 MPs.

UrbanWaterloo

04-04-2010, 02:25 PM

1991 Census Based: 3.X Waterloo Region Districts
One riding was shared with Wellington County
http://www.elections.ca/scripts/edwa301_historical/Default.asp?L=E&Page=Map&ED=35094

http://www.elections.ca/scripts/eddb2_old/maps/C35094.gif

2001 Census Based: 4 Waterloo Region Districts

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/ss203/UrbanWaterloo/Misc/ElectoralDistrictsinWaterlooRegion-.jpg

2011 Census Based: How Many Waterloo Region Districts Will There Be?