REPRESENTATION
One of the crucial questions faced by the Fathers of Confederation
in 1867 was how to ensure equal representation in the House of Commons of
Canada, while at the same time guaranteeing that each region of the country had
a fair say in the daily workings of the new federation. They adopted as a basic
working principle the idea of "representation by population," by virtue of which
each province was allotted a number of seats that directly corresponded to its
proportion of the total population in relation to Quebec’s. Around this
principle they designed a formula for distributing the number of seats in the
House of Commons among the provinces.
From the start, however, they recognized the geographic, cultural,
political and demographic diversity of the new provinces, as well as population
size and rural and urban characteristics. As more provinces entered
Confederation and as some regions grew and developed more than others, the
diversity became more pronounced and a certain degree of compromise had to be
built into the formula. As a result, the basic principle of representation by
population was adopted by Canada.
| NUMBER OF SEATS |
| YEAR |
CANADA |
ONT. |
QUE. |
N.S. |
N.B. |
MAN. |
1867
1871
1872
1873
1882
1887
1892
1903
|
181
185
200
206
211
215
213
214
|
82
82
88
88
92
92
92
86
|
65
65
65
65
65
65
65
65
|
19
19
21
21
21
21
20
18
|
15
15
16
16
16
16
14
13
|
4
4
4
5
5
7
10
|
| |
1907
1914
1915
1924
1933
1947
1949
1952
1966
1976
1987
1996 |
221
234
235
245
245
255
262
265
264
282
295
301
|
86
82
82
82
82
83
83
85
88
95
99
103
|
65
65
65
65
65
73
73
75
74
75
75
75
|
18
16
16
14
12
13
13
12
11
11
11
11
|
13
11
11
11
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
|
10
15
15
17
17
16
16
14
13
14
14
14
|
| NUMBER OF SEATS |
| YEAR |
B.C. |
P.E.I. |
N.W.T. |
Y.T.
N.W.T.
|
NFLD. |
1867
1871
1872
1873
1882
1887
1892
1903
|
6
6
6
6
6
7
|
6
6
6
5
4
|
4
4
10
|
1
|
|
| |
SASK.
|
ALTA. |
|
1907
1914
1915
1924
1933
1947
1949
1952
1966
1976
1987
1996 |
7
13
13
14
16
18
18
22
23
28
32
34
|
4
3
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
|
10
16
16
21
21
20
20
17
13
14
14
14
|
7
12
12
16
17
17
17
17
19
21
26
26
|
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
3
3
3
|
7
7
7
7
7
7
|
Many observers have commented that the history of Canada itself is
one of compromises. Certainly, the question of provincial representation in the
House of Commons is a case in point. Yet in spite of this, it is fair to say
that even today the principle of representation by population remains at the
root of the electoral system in Canada, as in many other countries.
The following pages briefly describe the evolution of the
representation formula. This description is followed by an explanation of the
present formula, how it is applied to determine the number of seats in the House
of Commons, and how these are then divided among the provinces and
territories.
Confederation to 1915
At Confederation in 1867, The British North America
Act, 1867 (B.N.A. Act – renamed in 1982 the Constitution Act,
1867) established a parliament composed of two houses. The upper house,
or Senate, was to consist of 72 non-elected members, or 24 representing each
of the three regions – Quebec,
Ontario and the Maritimes. The lower house, or House of Commons, elected by the
people, was to comprise 181 members representing the four founding provinces –
82 for Ontario, 65 for Quebec, 19 for Nova Scotia and 15 for New Brunswick.
In order that each province’s representation in the House of
Commons continued to reflect its population, section 51 of the Constitution Act, 1867 stated that the number of seats allocated to each
province would be recalculated after each 10-year (decennial) census, starting
with the 1871 census. The total number of seats was to be calculated by dividing
the population of each province by a fixed number, referred to as the "electoral
quota" or "quotient." This quota was to be obtained by dividing the population
of the province of Quebec by 65, the number of seats guaranteed for Quebec by
the Constitution in the House of Commons.
This simple formula was to be applied with only one exception,
"the one-twentieth rule," under which no province could lose seats in a
redistribution unless its share of the national population had decreased by at
least five percent (one twentieth) between the last two
censuses.
1915 – The senatorial clause
In 1915, the first change was made to the original
representation formula, by the adoption of the "senatorial clause." Still in
effect today, this clause states that a province cannot have fewer seats in the
House of Commons than it does in the Senate. In 1915, it had the immediate
effect of guaranteeing four seats to the province of Prince Edward Island,
instead of the three it would otherwise have had. It has had four seats ever
since.
1946 – Changing the formula
Changing political circumstances and
relationships, however, led to the development of a new set of rules, adopted in
1946 when the Constitution Act,
1867 was amended. These new rules
divided 255 seats among the provinces and territories based on their share of
Canada’s total population, rather than on the average population per electoral
district in Quebec.
1951 – The 15 percent clause
Since the population of all provinces had not increased at the same
rate, certain provinces lost seats. Because Nova Scotia, Manitoba
and Saskatchewan were all to lose seats after the 1951 census, the
"15 percent clause" was adopted to prevent a too rapid loss of seats
in some provinces. Under these rules, no province could lose more
than 15 percent of the number of Commons seats to which it had been
entitled at the last readjustment. The same three provinces, plus
Quebec, however, all lost seats after the 1961 census. These same
four provinces, plus Newfoundland, would also have lost seats after
the 1971 census, so legislation was finally introduced to resolve
this particular situation in 1974.
1974 – The "amalgam" formula
In 1974, concern over the continuing loss of seats by some provinces
prompted Parliament to adopt the Representation Act, 1974, which,
among other things, guaranteed that no province could lose seats.
In February 1974, the Standing Committee on Privileges
and Elections established that:
The objective must be adequate and realistic representation of all
Canadians bearing in mind the historic undertakings arising out of Confederation
and its responsibilities. The allocation of seats (in the House of Commons) is
at the very heart of the Confederation compromise.
A "compromise" was therefore proposed to deal with representation
in the House of Commons. The new formula, the third in our history, was more
complicated than earlier ones. As in the pre-1946 rules, Quebec was used as the
basis for calculations, but there were three differences. First, Quebec would
henceforth be entitled to 75 seats instead of 65. Second, the number of seats
assigned to Quebec was to grow by
four at each subsequent readjustment in such a manner as to slow down the growth
in the average population of an electoral district. Third, three categories of
provinces were created: large provinces, those having a population of more than
2.5 million, intermediate provinces, namely, those with populations between 1.5
million and 2.5 million, and small provinces, with populations under 1.5
million. Only the large provinces were to be allocated seats in strict
proportion to Quebec; separate and more favourable rules were to apply to the
small and intermediate provinces.
The history of representation is one of seeking a fair voice for all parts of Canada in the House of Commons.
The amalgam formula has been applied once, leading to the establishment of 282 seats in 1976.
Following the 1981 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 (369 seats were
projected after 2001). Effectively putting a hold on the process already
underway to reassign seats, Parliament passed the
Representation Act, 1985. It came into effect in March 1986.
The adoption of the Representation Act, 1985 greatly simplified the formula described in the amended section 51 of the
Constitution Act, 1867 for calculating representation.
The present formula for calculating representation in the House of Commons.
The current formula for representation is applied by carrying out
the following four steps:
1 – Allocation to the territories
Starting with the 282 seats that the House of
Commons of Canada had in 1985, one seat is allocated to the Northwest
Territories, one to the Yukon Territory and one to Nunavut, leaving 279 seats.
This number is used to calculate the electoral quotient.
2 – Calculation of the electoral district average
The total population of the
ten provinces is divided by 279 to obtain the "electoral quota" or "quotient",
which is used to determine the number of seats for each
province.
3 – Distribution of seats to each province
The theoretical number of seats to be allocated to
each province in the House of Commons is calculated by dividing the total
population of each province by the quotient obtained in step 2. If the result
leaves a remainder higher than 0.50, the number of seats is rounded up to the
next whole number.
4 – Adjustments
After the theoretical number of seats per province is obtained,
adjustments are made in a process referred to as applying the "senatorial
clause" and "grandfather clause."
As we have seen, since 1915, the senatorial clause
has guaranteed that no province has fewer members in the House of
Commons than it has in the Senate. The Representation Act, 1985
brought into effect a new grandfather clause that guaranteed
each province no fewer seats than it had in 1976 or during the 33rd
Parliament.
Appended to this text is a table demonstrating how the latest
formula has been applied to the 2001 census figures (Appendix A) and to the 1991
census figures (Appendix B). At the beginning of this section is a table
illustrating representation in the House of Commons from the date of
Confederation to the 1996 Representation Order.
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