Conservatives sold on Ontario's proposed share in House of Commons, but not Liberals
By Bill Rea

There are concerns that Ontario is getting shortchanged in the proposed redistribution of seats in the House of Commons.

The proposal, put forth by the federal government, would see Ontario get 10 more seats, while British Columbia is slated to get an additional seven representatives and Alberta is to get another five.

That's not fair, according to Premier Dalton McGuinty, who's been maintaining Ontario will be 11 seats short of where it should be in the new House configuration, and he's letting the feds know it.

But York - Simcoe MP, Government House Leader and Minister responsible for Democratic Reform Peter Van Loan said the current formula for apportioning seats would give Ontario just four more. This new formula is aimed at helping to correct inequities in the representation in these three fast-growing provinces.

"Otherwise, Ontario will only get four more seats, notwithstanding its considerable growth," he observed.

"It's an unusual argument, because we are giving Ontario more seats," Van Loan commented, adding McGuinty wants more on top of that, without any regard for the necessary legislation getting passed.

He also observed that McGuinty has never raised a fuss before over Ontario being under-represented, adding the premier himself passed legislation giving Northern Ontario an extra seat at Queen's Park, violating the concept of representation by population (rep by pop). Southern Ontario is now 44 per cent under represented in the provincial legislature, he observed.

York - Simcoe MPP Julia Munro wasn't taken with McGuinty's stand either, pointing out he ran on the idea of maintaining the extra seat for Northern Ontario, and he's changed his tune, now that the issue is on another stage.

"It's such a difficult problem, in terms of balancing," Munro added, pointing out there are two ways to look at proper representation in the House; regional and rep by pop.

"I think rep by pop is always going to be a moving target," she observed.

Munro also commented the most important question deals with the quality of people elected to these seats, adding that's more important than trying to get a mediocre person elected.

But Oak Ridges - Markham MPP Helena Jaczek said she was very pleased that McGuinty is "taking a very strong stand on behalf of the Province of Ontario."

"It's a question of fairness," she added.

She pointed out that Ontario's 106 federal seats currently represents about 34 per cent of the House of Commons, but Ontario has 39 per cent of the country's population. The government's plan would give Ontario 116 seats out of 330, or 35 per cent.

"I really feel that we should have additional seats for Ontario," she declared.

Van Loan said the Liberals in Ottawa had originally indicated they would support the government's plan, but now it looks like they'll oppose it. He added the Bloc Quebecois is opposed simply because they're against the other three provinces getting more seats. "We don't yet know where the NDP stands," he said.

"All you need is the support of one party," Van loan added. "With the NDP, we've got enough votes."

He also said there are some Grits who might end up supporting it. "The Liberal party has shown quiet lines of division on a range of issues," he observed.

It doesn't look like Oak Ridges - Markham MP Lui Temelkovski will be jumping the Liberal ship on this one.

"I think it's an awful idea," he remarked, adding it doesn't respect the distribution percentages that have been established over the years. "It's got to be by population right across Canada," with respect to the Constitutional obligations to the smaller provinces. He pointed out Prince Edward Island has four ridings, when according to rep by pop, it's only entitled to one.

Assuming the legislation passes, Van Loan said it wouldn't likely take effect until the anticipated 2014 election. The actual slotting of the ridings would depend a lot on the results of the 2011 Census.