READJUSTING THE BOUNDARIES

So far we have examined how the number of seats in the House of Commons is determined and what method is used to divide that number among the ten provinces and three territories. After the numbers are established according to the constitutional formula, the second part of the exercise begins, namely, dividing each province into electoral districts, each of which is represented by a member elected to the House of Commons.

The whole exercise is most properly known as "readjustment of electoral district boundaries," but is often referred to as "redistribution" and sometimes, particularly in other countries, as "redistricting." While the Constitution Act, 1867 specifies that a readjustment must take place after each 10-year census, the rules for actually carrying out this enormous task are laid down in the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act (E.B.R.A.) of 1964. The main elements of the readjustment process will be outlined following this brief historical note.

HISTORICAL NOTE

Up to and including the boundary adjustment following the 1951 census, the House of Commons itself was responsible for fixing the boundaries of electoral districts, through a committee appointed especially for that purpose.

Several authorities on the subject have documented the history of the process up to the 1960s. In effect, there were no rules to guide the exercise. In the words of Professor Norman Ward (1967, p. 107), the process was a "freelance operation in which any rational boundary drawing was likely to be the result of coincidence or accident." Professor Terence Qualter (1970, pp. 99–100) identified four informal "rules" which parliamentarians seemed to have followed in those days, namely: if the number of seats had to be reduced in a given area, 1) retain the incumbents’ districts; 2) eliminate the districts of members who were not going to run again; 3) reduce the seats of minority parties; and 4) if there was strong pressure to increase representation in heavily populated areas, increase the size of the House rather than reduce the representation in rural areas.

The research done on this period reveals a considerable amount of political influence on the readjustment process prior to the 1960s. This was often referred to as "gerrymandering," a term used to describe the manipulation of riding boundaries so as to ensure, as far as possible, the re-election of the members of the governing party.

THE COMMISSIONS TAKE OVER

In the early 1960s, it was decided to assign the responsibility for readjusting electoral district boundaries to commissions independent of Parliament and parliamentarians, one for each province. Legislation to this effect was passed in November 1964. In the interest of political neutrality, each commission was to be chaired by a judge designated by the chief justice of the province and there were to be three other members. One of these was the Representation Commissioner, a public servant who was to sit on every commission. Initially, the other two members were to be political appointees, one each from the governing party and the official opposition party. However, objections from the other opposition parties led to amendments of the legislation, so that the Speaker of the House of Commons was made responsible for making the two remaining appointments to each commission.

The post of Representation Commissioner was abolished in 1979 and most of the duties were transferred to the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada. Now each province has a three-member boundaries commission, chaired by a judge and comprising two other members appointed by the Speaker. As each of the three northern territories constitute an electoral district, they do not require electoral boundaries commissions.

The goal of a readjustment process that is genuinely free of partisan considerations is reinforced by a provision in the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act, which specifies that no sitting member of the Senate or of a federal, provincial or territorial legislature can be appointed to a commission. In practice, many commission members, aside from the chairpersons, have been university professors or non-elected officials of legislative assemblies.

A judge chairs each boundaries commission.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

The rules for readjusting the federal electoral boundaries were laid down in 1964. Members of the House of Commons realized that, for the process to be completely fair, it not only had to be free of political domination but also had to provide opportunities for everyone to express their views. Consequently, each commission publishes maps in the newspapers and invites the public to public hearings, which are held at several different locations chosen to encourage the participation of as many interested people as possible.

Public hearings: a key step in the readjustment of electoral boundaries.

Members of the House of Commons are not by any means excluded from this process of public involvement. Indeed, it is recognized that they will invariably have strong views on both the names and boundaries of the proposed electoral districts. Therefore, members of the House of Commons are not only allowed to appear before a commission at the public hearings, but the legislation also provides the opportunity for them to object to the proposals of any of the boundaries commissions. This process occurs through a committee of the House of Commons established for the purposes of dealing with electoral matters. The commissions must consider objections, but are not obliged to make changes based on them.

In all cases, the final decisions as to where the boundary lines will be placed rest with each commission.

Boundary readjustment must take into consideration the community of interest, historical pattern and geographic characteristics of each electoral district.

CRITERIA – WHERE TO DRAW THE LINES?

After receiving maps and documentation on the relevant population data from the most recent decennial census from the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada, commissions have one year to make proposals, hold public hearings and finalize their reports. Guidelines for this enormous task are found in the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act, R.S. 1985, c. E-3, from which it is evident that the readjustment exercise is not simply a mathematical computation, but rather a delicate balancing act that must take into account human interests as well as geographic characteristics. In the course of their work, the commissions receive professional, financial, technical and administrative assistance from the Chief Electoral Officer and the staff of Elections Canada.

The commissions are charged with dividing the territory assigned to them into a specified number of electoral districts, so that the population of each one will correspond "as closely as is reasonably possible" to the predetermined average (or "quotient"). In determining the electoral district boundaries, they must take into consideration "the community of interest or community of identity in or the historical pattern of an electoral district … and a manageable geographic size for districts in sparsely populated, rural or northern regions …."

To accommodate these human and geographic factors, the commissions are allowed to deviate from the average population figure when setting their boundaries. While restricted in most cases to a tolerance of 25 percent either way, a commission may exceed this limit "in circumstances viewed by the commission as being extraordinary." Such circumstances are primarily prevalent in northern and sparsely populated electoral districts.

THE PROCESS OF READJUSTMENT

While the work of the commissions is indeed a crucial part of the readjustment exercise and may take up to one year or more to complete, in fact, it is only one part of the exercise. The whole process takes two years or more, from the time the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada receives the census data from the Chief Statistician of Canada to the time at which the new boundaries can be used at a general election.

The following chart identifies and explains the main stages in readjusting federal electoral boundaries. The relevant sections of the legislation are mentioned at each step.

1.
ALLOCATION OF SEATS
E.B.R.A.,* sections 13 and 14

After each 10-year census, the Chief Statistician of Canada provides the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada with population data for each province broken down by electoral districts and census enumeration areas.

Using these figures and the formula in sections 51 and 51A of the Constitution Act, 1867, the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada calculates the number of seats to be allocated to each province and publishes the results in the Canada Gazette.

2.
ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSIONS
E.B.R.A., sections 3, 4, 5 and 6

The members of the boundaries commissions are selected and appointed by the Speaker of the House of Commons and the chief justice of each province.

Within 60 days from the time the Chief Statistician of Canada supplies the population data to the government and to the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada, the 10 electoral boundaries commissions must be established and charged with determining the boundaries of new electoral districts.

The commissions are officially established by the Governor in Council (Cabinet).

3.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
E.B.R.A., section 19

Each commission provides a redistribution plan. This is followed by the publication of newspaper advertisements that contain maps of the proposed electoral boundaries, as well as the time(s) and location(s) of public hearings, at least 60 days before the first hearing is scheduled.

A commission must hold at least one public hearing before completing its report.

Interested individuals, groups and members of the House of Commons and senators may appear at the hearings to express their views on the commission’s proposals, after notifying the commission in writing of their intention to do so.

4.
COMPLETION OF REPORTS
E.B.R.A., section 20

No later than one year after receiving the population data, each commission must complete its report on the new electoral districts.

The Chief Electoral Officer of Canada may grant an extension of up to six months when necessary.

5.
PARTICIPATION BY MEMBERS OF
THE HOUSE OF COMMONS
E.B.R.A., section 21 and subsections 22(1) and (2)

Each commission’s report is sent through the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada to the Speaker of the House of Commons, who must ensure that it is tabled and referred to a committee of the House of Commons designated to deal with electoral matters.

Written objections, each signed by at least 10 members of the House of Commons, may be filed with the committee within 30 days of the tabling of a report.

The committee has 30 days, or a longer period if the House of Commons is not sitting, to discuss any objections to a report and return it to the Speaker of the House of Commons.

6.
THE RESULTS OF REPORTS TO THE COMMISSIONS
E.B.R.A., subsection 22(3) and section 23

The reports are then returned to the commissions, accompanied by the minutes of the House of Commons committee. The commissions then decide whether to modify their reports.

7.
REPRESENTATION ORDER
E.B.R.A., sections 24 to 27

The Chief Electoral Officer of Canada drafts a document called a "representation order" describing and naming the electoral districts established by the commissions and sends the document to the Governor in Council (Cabinet).

Within five days of receiving the draft representation order, the Governor in Council must publicly announce the new boundaries in a proclamation which must then be published in the Canada Gazette within another five days from that date.

The new boundaries cannot be used at an election until at least one year has passed between the date the representation order was proclaimed and the date that Parliament is dissolved for a general election.

*Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act, R.S. 1985, c. E-3.

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