Feds look to amend Constitution Act to impose new minimum seat count for each province

Distribution centre manager Philippe Ouellette arranges a map at the Elections Canada distribution centre in Ottawa on Thursday, Aug 29, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

The federal government is looking to change the law to impose a new minimum seat count for each province, ensuring that in future riding redistributions, no province will ever be allocated fewer seats than they have now.

On Thursday, Bill C-14, “An Act to amend the Constitution Act, 1867 (electoral representation)” was tabled in the House of Commons, on behalf of sponsor Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc.

The legislation would amend section 51 of the Constitution Act, 1867 to make it so that going forward, no province will hold fewer seats in the House of Commons than it did during the last Parliament. The seat distribution then is the same as it is now. If passed, the amendment would update the 1985 “grandfather clause” in the current seat allocation formula, providing a new minimum number of seats for each province.

This move stems from a proposal from the Chief Electoral Officer that would see Quebec lose a seat, while other provinces either increase or maintain their current seat counts in the ongoing redrawing of the federal electoral map based on changes in their populations.

It’s a constitutional requirement that the number of MPs and their electoral districts be reviewed every 10 years, timed with the census.

Put forward in October 2021 as the years-long process kicked off, the independent elections agency calculated that to account for Canada’s population changes, the House of Commons’ seat count would in the coming years be increasing from 338 to 342. To adjust for this, new ridings will be added, requiring the redrawing of current electoral district boundaries.

This calculation used the seat allocation formula in the Constitution Act that the government is now looking to amend.

"The seat allocation and the electoral boundaries readjustment process is an important part of our democracy. It ensures the House of Commons reflects the changing nature of Canada's demographic profile and that all Canadians' voices are effectively heard,” said LeBlanc in a statement.

Should this bill pass, it remains to be seen if or how the redrawing of or overall count of ridings would be impacted in the current process to factor in Quebec not losing any ridings. That process is continuing, with independent electoral boundaries commissions set to hold public hearings between April and October 2022 in each province. Their reports are expected by December 2022 and the new electoral boundary districts will be announced in September 2023.

Changing the configurations or boundaries of federal ridings would still be possible—and historically happens to some degree in most ridings when this process is undertaken—but the overall number of ridings will not be able to fall below its current state.

As the allotment stands, British Columbia holds 42 seats, Alberta holds 34 seats, Saskatchewan holds 14 seats, Manitoba holds 14 seats, Ontario holds 121 seats, Quebec holds 78 seats, New Brunswick holds 10 seats, Nova Scotia holds 11 seats, Prince Edward Island holds four seats, and Newfoundland and Labrador holds 7 seats. The territories each hold one seat.

The Liberals had already signalled they’d be moving to protect the number of seats Quebec has, after the proposed reduction in the number of MPs sparked outrage in the province and with the Bloc Quebecois.

Ensuring Quebec didn’t lose a seat was also one of the smaller commitments stitched into the Liberal-NDP deal inked earlier this week.

“We commit to ensuring that Quebec’s number of seats in the House of Commons remains constant,” reads the agreement.