Parliamentary Bloat
May. 11th, 2007 02:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bjarvisThe Canadian House of Commons is looking to expand.
Legislation introduced today would add 10 seats to Ontario, 7 to BC and 5 to Alberta, reflecting the population growth in these areas. No area would lose seats. If passed, the total seats would rise to 330, effective in 2011.
The realignment of riding borders is usually a (relatively) non-partisan process, following natural alignments along municipal, county, district and provincial borders & landmarks. Still, I find it interesting to see how municipalities get subdivided or rural areas get lumped together.
My home town in northern Ontario has been tossed back & forth between ridings in each of the last three redistributions but I never sensed any sort of blatant gerrymandering or a reduced representation in Parliament.
Legislation introduced today would add 10 seats to Ontario, 7 to BC and 5 to Alberta, reflecting the population growth in these areas. No area would lose seats. If passed, the total seats would rise to 330, effective in 2011.
The realignment of riding borders is usually a (relatively) non-partisan process, following natural alignments along municipal, county, district and provincial borders & landmarks. Still, I find it interesting to see how municipalities get subdivided or rural areas get lumped together.
My home town in northern Ontario has been tossed back & forth between ridings in each of the last three redistributions but I never sensed any sort of blatant gerrymandering or a reduced representation in Parliament.
