Comment 371 – comments and feedback
Back to all comments and feedback from the public
Elena Mantagaris
TO: Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for the Province of Ontario
FROM: Elena Mantagaris, Spadina-Fort York
RE: Redistribution of Federal Electoral Districts 2022 – Public Comments and Feedback
DATE: October 27, 2022
Written Submission Sent by Email: ON@redecoupage-federal-redistribution.ca
Thank you for the opportunity to provide a written submission to the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for the Province of Ontario. This initiative is an important cornerstone of ensuring that citizens are fairly represented in a democratic political governance system.
A growing national population warrants re-assessment and re-distribution of seat allocations, as appropriate. For this reason, I am greatly concerned by the continued under-representation of Ontario's population in the House of Commons and, by extension, the under-representation of citizens residing in the Greater Toronto Area, which has the largest population concentration in the country.
Moreover, Bill C-14: An Act to Amend the Constitution Act, 1867 (Electoral Representation) entrenches and augments an existing under-representation of Ontario in the House of Commons.1 This Bill – passed in 2022 - guarantees that no province will have fewer seats in the House of Commons than was held in the 43rd Parliament (i.e., in 2021). Bill C-14 essentially provides a grandfather clause for provinces to remain over-represented in the House of Commons even as their proportion of the national population declines.
To view the rest of this comment, please contact ADMIN-REDECOUPAGE_ADMIN-REDISTRIBUTION@elections.ca.