30 new seats for Ontario, B.C., Alberta, and Quebec

The federal government laid out its latest vision Thursday for reshaping the House of Commons, adding 30 seats for Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and B.C. Roger Smith reports.

Power Play: MPs discuss fair representation act

Liberal MP Wayne Easter and Conservative MP Kyle Seeback discuss the fair representation act after 30 new seats were added to the House of Commons, distributed amongst Alberta, Ontario, B.C. and Quebec.

Power Play: 30 new seats added to House

Minister of State and Democratic Reform Tim Uppal says the extra seats are allocated to the provinces based on their population and that it has been calculated in a fair and reasonable manner.

National Affairs: 30 more seats for House

Gerry Nicholls, the founder of FreedomForum.ca and Matthew Mendelsohn with the Mowat Centre at U of T discuss the extra seats given to Ontario, B.C., Alberta and Quebec in the House of Commons, and what it means for Canada.

CTV News Channel: More seats in the House

Don Martin, the host of Power Play, discusses whether provinces will be happy with the amount of seats they are receiving from the government. He also says some Conservative MPs feel Quebec should not be getting more seats.

CTV News Channel: More seats in the House

Ontario will be getting the most seats out of the 30 new seats that will be added to the House of Commons. CTV's Mercedes Stephenson discusses why some MPs are upset with Quebec getting more seats.

Watch: See all Videos in the Player

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A file photo shows the House of Commons on Sept. 10, 2009

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CTVNews.ca Staff

Date: Thu. Oct. 27 2011 8:54 PM ET

The federal government intends to add 30 seats to the House of Commons, a change it says is necessary to account for growth in Canada's most populous provinces.

Half of the new seats will go to Ontario, while Alberta and British Columbia will each receive six seats each.

Quebec will be allocated three more seats, to prevent the province from being underrepresented in a newly swollen Parliament.

The government believes the "Fair Representation Act" will help ensure that Canadians in provinces with fast-growing populations get better representation.

Tim Uppal, the minister of state for democratic reform, said the government wanted to maintain the existing seats in Parliament, while addressing the seat imbalances that have resulted from population growth.

"It delivers on our commitment to maintain the seat counts of smaller provinces and to ensure that no province that is currently overrepresented will experience representation less than what is proportionate to the population," Uppal said Thursday in Brampton, Ont.

Should the changes come into effect, the number of MPs in the House of Commons would jump to 338, an increase of almost 10 per cent from the current 308 elected members.

But the changes amount to more than what might be described as a mere "numbers game," as they will permanently influence the distribution of power in Ottawa, CTV's Chief Political Correspondent Craig Oliver said Thursday.

"It's about power. It's about what areas of the country, what people get to influence the kind of decisions we make in our national Parliament," Oliver told CTV News Channel from Ottawa.

Prior attempts at reform

The government had tried to pass through a similar measure in the previous Parliament that would have given 18 new seats to Ontario, five to Alberta and seven to British Columbia.

But that bill died in the last Parliament.

This time around, the Conservative government has majority control in the House of Commons, which suggests that the changes are likely to be passed into law.

Liberal critic Stephane Dion suggested Thursday that while the government believes it has found "a balance" on how to distribute the forthcoming seats, its caucus should be prepared to have parliamentarians take a hard look at the details of the plan.

"Democratic reform is not a game and must be done in co-ordination with the provinces," Dion said in a statement.

"Now that a proposal is before Parliament, the Conservatives must commit to allowing Members of Parliament and Senators the time to fully study the impacts of the bill."

The increased representation for Quebec has ruffled some feathers within the Conservative caucus, CTV's Power Play host Don Martin said Thursday.

"There's some pushback in the caucus from this," Martin told CTV News Channel from Ottawa.

"Some Conservative MPs say: ‘We shouldn't be capitulating necessarily to Quebec on this.'"

Oliver said that from the point of view of some Quebecers, there may be a feeling that their influence is waning in Ottawa.

Comments are now closed for this story

B in Ottawa
said

Our representation is good, but not perfect. Ontario has always been under represented, and now Alberta and B.C. are under represented too. All other provinces are over represented, because of stupid clauses in the constitution that means that you can never take away seats, only add them. That makes no sense. People move around, and some provinces lose people. Sorry but if that happens, you should get less seats!! I can't believe that Quebec, the spoiled child of Confederation, is getting 3 more seats when their population is shrinking. That is ridiculous. I just wish they would stop whining, the rest of Canada bends way too much for them already.

Frank Buchan
said

Well, 30 more useless backsides in overpaid seats in the back benches. It's like adding leeches to one's body to remove leeches. (And, I wouldn't write that except for the fact out of the politicians we have now, 90% or more of them are sub-par thinkers, painfully lacking in skills of any kind, and exist only to server their own egos.)

David Fraser Nanoose Bay BC
said

Wow, 3 more whiners in Quebec

Tony
said

being MP is like winning the lottery without buying a ticket. The best thing our generation can do is to vote and send these losers home. we stand in long lines for hours to get smart phones, why don't we do the same to vote. We can't blame those losers when we really do NOT care about what is going on in our homeland.

peace,

Gayle
said

bigger government doesn't necessarily mean better government. Having politicians listen to their constituents and act accordingly would likely be more cost effective.

JSF
said

I love it. So-called small-C conservatives strike again. Hard to believe that Conservatives would actually increase the size of government. And waste our taxpayer money. I'm shocked!

Bobby Boucher
said

Does Quebec need more representation that they already have? The maritimes, Ontario, Alberta I personally think need more representation but certainly not Quebec.

Terry
said

You can't justify Quebec getting three more seats, it is over-represented in the house. The only reason they get 75 seats is because Trudeau made that a minimum number for Quebec under the constitution. As a conservative I thought once we elected a prime minister from outside Quebec with a majority government made up from outside Quebec we would stop the pandering to Quebec.As for those who herald two official languages, demand the new Auditor-General and Supreme Court justices speak French, get real. I want the best auditor-general and justices, not the worst. Such a qualification eliminates most Canadians outside Quebec from most jobs. Of course that is the plan by Quebec. Last year 65 per cent of federal government bilingual jobs went to Quebecers. Stop complaining about no French outside of Quebec when Quebec bans English under its French language only laws. Bilingualism is a joke as long as English is not accepted as an official language in Quebec.

alan smithee
said

This 'conservative' government are the biggest spenders we've ever seen.
But is this money being spent on infrastructure,affordable housing,health care,education,job training or any other legitimate need our communities are lacking?

No.

Only prisons,fighter jets,gold business cards,joy rides on military jets,the G20 fiasco and now for more MPs,their salaries and lucrative pensions. (to name a few)

So much for the 'best stewards for the economy' ,eh?

This government is the furthest thing from fiscal responsibility.
This is a government bent on poisoning Canadian politics and who are hell bent on bankrupting the provinces so they can privatize all our services and institutions and sell them to their American friends.

And all this with 39.7% of the vote.
Time for proportional representation.

Lynn@Strathcona County
said

Oh how wonderful! The last time they re-disorganized the seats in Alberta we ended up with a M.P. we have never seen. We live near Edmonton and the riding is centred near Wainwrith.

Bill in Calgary
said

It's unfortunate but politics in Canada, and in many other parts of the world, is now all about politics serving politicians. Politicians no longer serve the electorate. They will sink as low as they have to go, in order to ensure re-election. The harm they do is of no consequence, as long as they maintain their place at the trough.

DON AITKEN- Kelowna BC
said

Remember when Harper ran as a Reformer ,and like the rest of them said they would not take the MP's Pension.Well ,now would be a good time for all of the Reform Conservative Caucus to live up to their original promises so that they could get elected in the first place. Then maybe we could afford to have the larger government they promised to get rid of. Is their any body else out there that remembers this CON job they did on Canadians?

Adrian from Hamilton
said

Parliament is running a country by committee. The bigger the committee the slower and more dysfunctional it becomes. I would prefer to see bigger ridings and fewer MPs. -|- Continuing this way Canada would have 3000 MPs when its population reaches that of the USA today. And even if limited to a 2 minute speech each, imagine the time it will take for everyone to have his/her say - 100 working hours.

Brian
said

30 more pigs at the public trough. Why can't they cap the number of seats and re-distribute?

spaz
said

I need some clarification......perhaps the good Professor can help me.Will there be an equal amout of seats be added to Queens Part as well, as the provincial ridings seem to mirror the federal ones ???Thanks Prof.If only Dalton had waited..... a couple of more urban ridings and he would have his majority.......whew....that was close

Jason NW Calgary
said

Hopefully one of those new ridings comes into NW Calgary quadrant. This may actually mean that people will finally be rid of Rob Anders as their MP representative. He's a lame duck putz who despite all his faults gets voted in by those who only see the Conservative colours and not for what this guy really is. I am also a Conservative but I have not voted for him in any election (back to his Reform days). He just needs to be gone for one term and then we can get a Conservative in who is actually respected.

bw reno
said

If Ontario gets 15 seats, they would still be underrepresented since they represent 39% of the population. The change would mean going from 34% of parliament to 35.7%. Everyone is properly represented except for Ontario.

chuck
said

Ross. Here how it works. You want some of that money? File nomination papers, pay the fee(s), Run, get elected ... and TaDa! you win. If you want to be miserable, still file, pay, run without campaigning. Works better if your real young, and you could be the next star for the NDP. Caution this may not work if your a Liberal

Richard L. Provencher
said

Mr. Dion has reappeared again. I am glad to see he has the usual questions, but never any suggestions. He wants to see what, who and why about this issue. Well Mr. Dion, read this article once again. See, all your questions answered.

Cal in Ottawa
said

Unless the population of Que has increased, they do not merit more MPs. I also agree with some of the comments that we already have too many MPs in the first place. In this current PMO based gov't (not a Harper invention, but expanded under his watch) MPs have little relevance in the House. Give us fewer MPs, let them hire more staff to look after constituent concerns.

Bucko
said

Just what we need. More overpaid under achievers to waste Canadian Taxpayers money. With the exodus from Quebec in past years are they really entitled to 2 more seats.It will just add 2 more bodies to continue to look for handouts from Ottawa.

Alexis
said

The Quebec population isn't in decline anymore. Its actually starting to rise because of a new baby boom and more immigrants.

Josh
said

If I get this right we're about to pay 30 more poeple to just sit there and do nothing. They need to lighten the governement public fonction not increase it even more. What we have to keep in mind is that each MP comes with a minimum of people that are also being paid by taxpayer's money.

Laughing in Ottawa
said

Why is this board focused on the 3 seats going to Quebec? It seems all it takes is the mention of Quebec to get you all excited. It is unfortunate that by focusing on the non-story, you are actually missing the real story.....These seats will cost us a fortune and I am unclear why more seats in parliament is a requirement at this time. I understand that some western provinces were under represented but was the situation bad enough to warrant this kind of investment when we are waiting to see if we will have a second dip into recession?

David
said

30 more MP's will be added to parliament at a cost of millions - if we could only get the monkeys there already to stop throwing feces at each other and do the work of the people, we would not have to add more moneys to this circus!

Jason Daniel Baker, Toronto
said

I remember when Mike Harris introduced the "Fewer Politicians Act" in Ontario and got rid of 30 seats from the Ontario legislature to save money during the Common Sense Revolution. This Harper government move is not about increasing representation. It is about consolidating Tory power and a Harper political dynasty. When the Liberals governed Canada for 66 out of 88 years (Between 1896 and 1984) "Gerrymandering" i.e. redrawing constituencies was one of their key tactics. What we see now is a government less concerned about catering to its base and more concerned about displacing the Liberals as natural governing party.

Francine
said

Here's what I want to know: Do we have room in the HoC to ADD 30 more chairs?? It was getting crowded before!

George in Calgary
said

10 provinces and three territories, all equal right? So maybe 4 seats per province max, that really is all that is required. We are say one tenth of the population of the States so perhaps all we need is one tenth the number of elected representatives.

daryn
said

They also need to adjust the ridings, It's unfair that Rosetown Biggar and farming communities decides the vote for people in the south west corner of Saskatoon.

Tristan in BC
said

Someone should buy Mr.Harper a dictionary that way he will know that when he promised to shrink government that it doesnt mean add 30 more seats

JP in Ottawa
said

Proportional representation should be simple - assign for example 1 seat per 100,000 people. There is 35 millions of us so that would be 350 seats in parliament. Then, using census population numbers & GPS, let computers figure out blocks of land (regardles of provincial boundaries) with 100,000 population and there are your ridings. Do a good census every 10 years and update accordingly. That would save lots of fighting and be fair to every person and province (growing or shrinking).

TheOtherLowellInBC
said

Yawn. What are people getting all head up about on here. So we have to make the trough a little bigger. I'm sure the increased rep will benefit all canadians and make canada a better place to live. But more to the point who is going to take over as the new leader of the republican party in the USA. That has more impact on me than how many new MP's are going to be sitting in parliament.

rick in ab
said

I see the house of commons is now hiring,means increased payroll for Ottawa.Meanwhile Projects are being put on hold, because of federal funding not available, people era starving,the elderly, being forced ouy of their homes becuase of no funding.

Albertan
said

Considering we seen displayed on public media photos of MP's noting paying attention in parlament and looking at Other Media while sitting in house - they should focus on what they are actually paying these people to do! Call me'wanting to get my monies worth". Also - who puts more money into to pot should get more say? While on the subject Retirement funds should be 10 year Mandatory NOT 3 year - sign me Born Canadian Citizen - worked for my retirement.

Bernie from BC
said

We do not need more MPs!I thought the Harper Conservatives were fiscally responsible.

Kevin
said

Stop it. don't wast our money.

Bob in Calgary
said

What the hell do we need 30 more politions for. Haper wasting more tax dollars and the pc's will say " what a great job he is doing" right????????????????

NoBrain
said

I scratching my head, why 30 more seats instead reform distribution of seat accordingly? More seats, meaning more waste on tax payer money, plus all the benefit and pension etc... what's going on? I thought Harper conservative suppose to be a smaller gov't?

Fred - Brandon MB
said

I'm just wondering how many more seats can we physically continue to addto Parliament? Should we not consider capping the number of MPs and then periodically readjust according to populations shifts by adding and subtracting equal numbers of seats from/to provinces?

PEI Fella
said

Considering the government is cutting lots of jobs to save money I think that we should be cutting MPs as well. We should by no means be adding them there are more than enough already and they are more than enough expense.

Debbie
said

@Jay - mea culpa but you need to learn to spell. They are absolutely entitled to an opinion but if they want to express that opinion in writing it would be wise to learn to spell. An incorrectly spelled word can change the meaning of a sentence.

What's the point?
said

Why? What do MP's do that's so important? We have a government that is ever increasing centralized authority, they shut down debate. Adding 30 more seats in the HOC is a waste of money and a waste of space.

CBD37
said

So much with the fiscally responsible small government cons.
Large deficit, larger government, more power for Ontario.
This is what happens when a party 100% control with onlt 39% of the vote.
We don't need bigger government. We need true praportional repesentation.

jay
said

Debbie, are you saying people who can not read or write do not have the right to an opinion?
They absoulutely do, and should be encouraged to express themselves. Also, your run on sentence was grammitically incorrect.

More information needed
said

Before passing judgement, I think it would be wise to Canadians with the new riding layout and census data that shows where the imbalances have developed and how the new ridings will solve them, along with why the existing ridings cannot be reconfigured to meet the change in population. As it is now, all we know from this article is that the number is going up, with the "why" and the "how" only given the briefest of explanations.

Ross
said

What a waste of taxpayers money again there goes Harper and his thugs wasting our tax dollars. Where do I sign to get this money.

IslandGuy
said

Aside from the cost concerns mentioned in many of the comments here, I have questions about where these extra seats will be geographically positioned in each respective province--where and how will new ridings be carved out of the existing map?

Lona G.
said

This may be necessary, but our Senate is not.....when is Prime Minister Harper going to abolish the Senate like he said he would if he had a majority government...well he has it now, but I do not see any indication that the Senate that Canadians do not want, nor can afford, is on it's way out.....

RG
said

Well that should bring down the unemployment rate.Think of all the secretaries,personal aides,office staff that will be needed.No wonder we have a multimillion dollar deficit,a half a trillion dollar debt,simply because politicians can continue to line their pockets as they see fit with no input from Joe Public.SHAME SHAME.

Prof. Pye Chartt
said

Since Confederation, the "readjustment formula" used to determine allocation and distribution of seats in the House of Commons, as per population growth/shrinkage (as determined by decennial census), has been changed by Parliament a number of times during Canada's history. Our Constitution has been amended before to deal with this issue. The notion, therefore, that what is being set down now by our federal government is by fundamental necessity (ie. adding seats), is false.

André
said

Quebec getting 3 more seats? Does this mean that Quebec will continue to get 60% of federal equalization transfers "annually" under the guise of being a "have-not province"? I'm confused because I thought Quebec was calling itself an independent country separate from Canada? So why are Canadians funding a "nation" instead of that nation paying for itself?

Public Servant who's afraid of loosing her job
said

The sould cut the number of seats, not add any. I never seen my MP in the last 20 years, and lives a block from my house.

Gary Durksen
said

Just what we need, more politicians to pay when the existing ones dont earn their money to begin with

L - Ottawa
said

@ Mary Ottawa - I respectfully do not agree. I love in your comment you refer to "Quebec" as if it's every single person in that province agreeing to the same thing, and you seem to have them ALL figured out. You are talking about them as if they are all 2 year olds - which I find highly disrespectful, and almost racist in tone. You may not agree with Quebec's stance on every thing, and that is fine - but you don't need to lump every Quebecer into the the spoiled toddler category. That is offensive and shows that your complaints are coming from a dislike for Quebec instead of from factual information.

A Concerned Canadian
said

It is unfortunate that the government is growing the size of parliament as this is simply too costly for the taxpayers. it would be better to take seats from overrepresented provinces (ie Quebec) and allocate them to Alberta, B.C, and Ontario as these provinces have grown substantially in size. The maritime provinces need not be affected as they are too small to affect the number of seats in the House of Commons. Quebec on the other hand, is getting smaller than the other big provinces in the country, so Quebec should actually lose seats in parliament to these big provinces. This would balance representation gains, and more importantly, hurt Quebec's ability to hold this country hostage every time they want something from us. They will threaten a referendum everytime they do not get what they want so it is best to stop pandering to them. Quebec is the bully in the room and the bully should be put in his place.

Debbie
said

There are two official languages in this country and I wish the people commenting here would learn at least one of them. The spelling and grammar are terrible and quite frankly I immediately dismiss their comments as garbage because they are incomprehensible. Educate yourselves!

Hitman13
said

30 more seats? Brother!!!
I would rather see the average Joe have more say.

How much is this going to cost the average Joe?

So the MP's will get pensions indexed. Our system of governments is corrupt

Canada is a great country but our
Politics really sucks.

It doesn't matter who you vote for once they are power they do what they want.

More MP seats the Queen the senate. Such a waste of tax payers money.

TC
said

What is way to waste taxpayer's money. No wonder our country has record deficits.

alan smithee
said

First off,if the Cons were REALLY sucking up to Quebec,Quebec would be getting a MINIMUM of 10 more seats.
2/3 of the population of Canada is Quebec and Ontario.
Ontario is getting 15 more seats and Quebec is getting 3..I guess the ROC can't do math.
Secondly,it's obvious that Ontario is being rewarded for Harper's majority and Quebec is being punished (because the Harpercons can't BUY a seat in la belle province)
What this country needs is LESS MP's and abolish the Senate.
SCC judges should be VOTED for by the public and most of the omnibus crime bill and the long gun registry should be issues that the provinces can either implement or VETO.
Less MPs and more power to the provinces.

Mary - Ottawa
said

@L - Ottawa This is not about diversity. Quebec is a two year old child throwing a tantrum and we keep getting leaders with zero parenting skills who try to negotiate with them. Just like with a two year old, that does not work. It only encourages the behaviour and makes them worse as they get older. Quebec needs a spank on the bottom or at least a time out. They and the entire family of Canada will be better off in the long run.

Geoff in Lethbridge
said

The US House has been fixed at 435 since 1910, and Canada used to reduce provinces' seating - Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan (at different times) once had 21 each! What's the difference if it's Ontario 121 of 338, SK 14 of 338, Quebec 78 of 338... or Ontario 110 of 311, SK 13 of 311, Quebec 71 of 311? Virtually the same percentage! 300 would be even better, and keep it there!

Some
said

Whaaa!! Whaaa! Funny to hear the sounds of the left crying about these issues. Unfortunately their superstar (not) politicians spent more of their time stealing our money than rectifying decades of neglect in Government. Finally we have a government that while not perfect does 'get it' more than the Liberals who preceded them.

Jazz
said

So if I can summarize the comments I've read so far, we want Parliament to be 1 MP per Province (save money, smaller government and no pandering to Quebec), make it fair based on population (we'll force people to move to smaller Provinces to keep things equal), and only allow Liberal Governments to do anything (nobody else is capable of actually doing anything based on the opinion of many comment providers). Brilliant.

MARG MM
said

Well, at least some of you get it that the constitution would have to be changed in order to cut or redistribute seats. Until that happens, the only way to make representation fair is to add more in Provinces that have increased in population. I think Quebec has some sort of "special agreement" (what else is new) that they get a certain percentage regardless of population. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong on that. This addition of seats would have been done by any party in power eventually, so getting mad and claiming you will never vote Conservative again is just "cutting off your nose to spite your face" ( if indeed you ever voted Conseervative). All these seats will undoubtably be won by representatives from all of the three main parties, so at this time no one knows what the outcome will look like.

Let's be Clear
said

Well well well, the firebrand ultra right-wing western based government has sold out and given the evil Quebec MORE seats! Yikes!

You folks out west juss 'member that come 'lection time.

As a proud Ontarian, and a frequent tourist of La Belle Province, I couldn't be happier.

Now, if they could only redraw my riding to exclude the old blue-bloods and radical gun-nut fringe, I'd be even happier.

James
said

A vote for the Conservatives is a vote for smaller government and decreased spending! Wait a second...

PK
said

There should be a 30 seat reduction instead of an addition. It really out of control. Also, all spending needs to be reduced. Especially, a reduction of new jet planes for the RCAF.

Ex- Montrealer
said

@BOB in Cowtown: So if most MP's are useless and overpaid what's that make Harper ?? BTW is that trailer park still standing in the middle of Cowtown. Calgary: an ancient native word meaning 'where the mind narrows'.

SF Thomas
said

Problem with the new bill (aside from trying to address complaints from Quebec) is that it now short charges Ontario by a bunch of seats and gives too many to Alberta in comparison.

Try them for Treason!
said

I wish it were the old days when separatists could be tried for treason. If you are a Quebec separatist shame on you. If you are an anglo, western separatist shame on you. I put you all in the same boat, and I'd put you all on and island outside of our beautiful and diverse country.

laurie
said

Well, the Cons have done it again! They've taken another momentous step in increasing the size of government. Funny, they claim to be against big government, but the size of the Federal Government has increased dramatically, since the Harper and his cronies came to office. Question: When are you going to start downsizing the PMO, Mr. Harper?

geebee
said

Hopefully the 15 or so seats that will go to Ont. will NOT be in the Toronto area, which have been traditional Liberal bastions. The country AND the province have suffered long enough...McGuinty should have been unhorsed Oct. 6th.Other areas of the country cry out for equal representation.

Robert Marshall
said

So this is why they want to cut operating budgets by 5 and 10%... to pay the salaries of 30 new MP's and their support staff.....Typical PC crap!

L - Ottawa
said

Iggy and the rest of you who love to complain about Quebec. WHAT MAKES CANADA, CANADA? Two official national languages, and mirade of cultures and diversities. What makes Canada, Canada, is that we have two "founding" nations - English and French. I know that is hard for some to accept but it's the truth. This country is stronger together than apart. Every time that someone from the west, or another part of Canada complains about Quebec for naive reasons, you are just contributing to the separatist problem. Stop blaming, start learning, start educating yourselves on what makes Canada - CANADA. It's about all of us English, French, Aboriginal and everything else. What defines us is that we all live together peacefully, and we SHOULD be able to do it with GRACE. What makes us special is that it's okay if we are a bit different. What should make us UNIQUE is that we try to learn more about each other instead of blaming or finger-pointing. That my friend Iggy, is NOT CANADIAN.

frank
said

I am so FED UP of politicians sucking up and trying to appease the BIG baby Quebec. Quebec is like a spoiled child who ALWAYS wants more and threatens to hold it's breath (separate) if it doesn't get its way.

Well I say CALL THEIR BLUFF and if they separate, GOOD RIDDANCE. Enough is enough.

Je suis francais et j'en ai assez du Quebec!!

Werner Zechmeister, Beaconsfield
said

For the size of the population of Canada (only 4 1/2 times the population of Austria) we are already over regulated & already have more politicians on salary than we can afford. Just think of how much of our hard earned tax dollars go to their lavish pension funds, something the private sector can only dream about. Better spending that money on filling pot holes and fixing bridges instead of installing nets underneath overpasses, to prevent the decaying concrete from falling on our heads!

Mike Carroll
said

We are so over taxes? Where is the Canadian Taxpayers Federation or the National Citizens' Coalition on this issue? Remember that less is more!

Prof. Pye Chartt
said

Sure; re-balance the representational equation as mandated, based upon population census. Fine. This, however, does NOT mean that seats must be ADDED to the House of Commons. Re-draw the damn lines on the damn electoral districts map, thus, redefining the constituencies. Problem solved. Unnecessary cost(s) avoided. Proper democratic representation preserved.

Ken in Victoria BC
said

I think they should reduce the number of seats by 30 or more with a minimum of 4 seats to a Province. Bigger is not necessarily better.

Iggy in AB
said

As much as it pains us, gov't is about comprimise, concessions and yes... a fair amount of pandering... in order to make disfunctional work. Quebec in Canada is and always has been and will probably awlasy be disfunctional to the hole. Its a price we paid a long time ago, yet we are all still surprised when it pops up again and again. Its not fair, but it is what makes Canada Canada, even if we moan and groan about it. No gov't is perfect folks... not a single one. This comprimised is not totally fair.. but hopefully 2 steps in the right direction even if its 1 step back in the wrong direction.. if that makes any sort of mixed-up sense.

Robert B
said

The Cons have often used the word entitlement re Liberals, "3 seats to Quebec"now they are adding 30 MP seats to the Swelling government payroll, not counting all the support staff for these deadbeats., at the cost to the Canadian taxpayer. why not cut 30 seats and equalize it that way, you could save millions in wages, tax free benefits fat pensions, and get rid of some non deserving MPS>

deborahann
said

Oh really, so instead of 308 thieves and liars, we now have 338 thieves and liars to pay with our ever decreasing disposable incomes and standards of living, while the corporate owners of these deceptive b's are getting richer..Im so sick of all of this. By the way retirement 60 seems to be 65 now to pay your pensions MP's!!!!!
@Allan sounds like your very jelouse of our beautiful province of Quebec!!!

Hello Greece
said

We are in a deficit situation which means every red cent required to pay for these new MPs and their staff will be borrowed, and we will keep borrowing the same amount or more to pay for them every year. Interest will compound on this increasing debt every year - and this was the more fiscally responsible of the parties we had to choose from. Really? This is the best leadership we can get?

MCAWZ
said

I'm an English Quebecer, and I'm sick of this province a TON more than any of you westerners -- you're preaching to the choir (just like Conservatives like it hehehe)

Why don't you all get together, as Canada's new power and engine, and vote Quebec OUT instead of waiting for the french to win these wasteful referendums? Because they won't win!!!! I want out!!!!

It's a shame Montreal is such a great city so I will only leave once Parizeau's face ends up on the dollar bill.

I urge you to Occupy Canada and get rid of this province!!! What's Hydro Electricity anyways, we got the oil -- conservatives love to burn that like the bridges they burn with voters!

No one should be complaining about these Conservatives, you all voted for them to get a majority -- the worst has yet to come my friends.

Absolute brainwash

john messom creston bc
said

mr harper what has happen to you since you won the last election with a majority you got your majority with out quebec so why are you kissing their butt you dont need them and canada dont need them mr harper just think how much money would have if we did not have quebec part of canada but now you are giving them what ever they cry for i use to send your party money but no more for two reason 1 you give jack layton a disgrace leader a state furenal2 you are roll over back to quebec

George
said

30 more seats, so these people can get paid to do nothing like usual, then collect nice pension cheques, please.....

Stella in Toronto
said

I don't know what some of you are talking about. The way I see it Ontario gets 15 seats, BC gets 6 seats, Alberta gets 6 seats and Quebec gets 3 seats. Adds up to 30 right? Sounds about right to me, Ontario and BC bare the brunt of immigration, Alberta has a lot of jobs so gets many migrant workers and Quebec gets a few immigrants in Montreal.

Ken in Winnipeg
said

They are proposing a 10% increase in MP's. I would assume then, that the existing MP's will see their work reduced by roughly 10%. I would further assume then that there should be a 10% reduction in MP's salaries to offset the decreased work load.Yeah, right!.

Mike
said

To all the folks who think that Quebec is getting special treatment in the soon to be enlarged HoC, you might want to include PEI in your province bashing as they have always had special status based on their small population.But then again, it is much more fun to blame Quebec for all your problems. Get a life!!!Mike from Ottawa.

Michael from the real world
said

Unfortunately politics trumps yet again! This is why an independent commission should be set up to review provincial populations every 10 years, and mandate an immediate adjustment of the seat count. That would only be fair. I am from Alberta [well inured to the Central-Canadian political/economic shaft] but I think that Ontario is really getting the shaft here--they should get their full due. Fair is fair. One point often missed is that there is literally no room in the House to expand!

Debbie
said

Well so much for downsizing government and cutting expenses. The Conservatives have made that impossible with 30 more greedy hogs at the public trough. We can't afford this nonsense at this time and the existing seats should have been redistributed to reflect growing populations to ensure fair representation in parliament. How happy are you voters now that you've given a majority to the regressive, spendthrift, reformers? All losers.

Thomas
said

This is absolutely ludicrous given more seats to Quebec, they should be taking seats away, they have a way to many seats as it is and as a result a way to much influence and say in Canadian politics. In addition to that, they are always trying to assert their distinctiveness as it pertains to the province on the lands that belong to the most distinct group in Canada,, to which Quebec gives little to no recognition. I realize Ontario has a lot of seats, but Ontario is and always has been a province with the best interest of Canada as a whole in mind, not a narrow "my stolen lands province" and to heck with all the others. It is time Canada made Quebec abide the laws or get off the lands that belong to the Aboriginals and get back to France, if they will take you. I thought the conservative party was starting to look a little wise but, they just lost my vote!

pm
said

I need a new sofa!!!!! Just saying!!! I have to pay for that myself with my very little pension!!!! Again just saying!!!

Trent
said

How about we go the other way and reduce the number of seats to balance it out. We don't need to grow the government.

Nicolas
said

Just what we need right a bigger more expensive government!!!

GDC
said

I cannot belive there are ppl who are complaining with QC getting 3 extra seats. Ontario is getting 15!! While both Alberta and BC will get 6 seats each. I'm not saying that QC should be getting more but come on ppl...it's still less than the other 3 Provinces.

Pat
said

Bob in Ottawa said I am absolutely sick of the pandering to Quebec and I'm not going to take it any more. I've always voted conservative but I'm done. Sorry John Baird. Not that it was you personally but that's my riding and I won't be showing up for you next time. Better hope you pick up those extra seats in Quebec, but we both know you won't.----------------------------------------Make that two! The cons have lost my vote for good!

Bob,Calgary,Alberta
said

While I don't particularly like Quebec getting more seats, I'm OK with it as long as their new proportion of seats doesn't exceed their proportion of the total population. As far as B.C. and Alberta's combined share being slightly lower than Quebec's I don't see that as a really big problem. The future of Canada is now firmly in the hands of the West. Saskatchewan,Alberta and B.C. are the engine of Canada's economy and the influence of the East can't help but decline in the future. Quebec is a bloated socialist economy that is essentially bankrupt and Ontario with the free spending LIberals in power is not far behind. Harper is only trying to right a historical wrong by giving more representation to the growing areas of Canada. I only wish we could reduce the number of MPs to improve proportional representation but I accept that the Constitution won't let that happen. From what I have observed MPs are the most useless and overpaid group in Canada. They are incapable of independent thought and merely parrot what the top exchelon of their party tells them. All that said we finally seem to have a competent PM and a competent Finance Minister as well as an outstanding B of C head so we are on the right track. Canada is still the best country in the world to live in despite some minor flaws like equalization etc.

Craig from NS
said

How about cutting the number of seats by 30% instead of increasing the total number of seats. While they are at it, can they abolish the Senate? I thought Harper was against government waste? Cutting here and adding there is not the streamlining measures he keeps talking about.

allan
said

Still sucking up to Quebec, the Greece of Canada.I say lets get rid of them, as they are a drag on the rest of Canada, especially here in the west.

fred BC
said

Why not set the number of MPs a a fixed number , say 150, and then figure out where the boundaries should be. This wouldn't work with the guarantees given at confederation to PEI and elsewhere but they should be ignored as well Quebec's need to have disproportionate representation. We'd all be better off with fewer yahoos in Ottawa and the Provinces as well.

JB in Ontario
said

This just makes political sense. Representation by population. It will make the government more accountable to the people of Canada.

Cameron in Deux-Montagnes
said

Add to my previous post the costs of the soon-to-be-used temporary House of Commons AND the additional costs in the already budgeted renovation costs (supposedly) in order to seat these additional oinkers at the trough!

Cameron in Deux-Montagnes
said

"The enlarged House will increase the cost of holding a general election by $11.5-million, and increase the budget for operating the House by $14.8-million annually."Pathetic... no, actually make that Gross! The Government should have had the guts to just re-distribute/re-design current electoral boundaries keeping the House at its present numbers.

Rick in ab
said

By adding these seats to the house of commons, will just enhance bickering. It will prolong issues to to dealt with, and further delay action, not to mention the cost of having extra seats added. Shame on you Ottawa, the enhanced representation that you see, will never happen, due to the lack of communication that we have from Ottawa.

tom91
said

If size of gov't is your concern, 30 more elected officials are not the issue. My Friend works for the Federal gov't in Ottawa, its crazy how many beaurocrats, comitees, and departments exist. Out of university you can expect 40k + salaries for what equates to little emore than a proof reader. 50, 60k salaries after just a few years. This is where we need to cut people. Im ok with 30 more elected officials, at least we can kick these ones out by voting them out. Also, quit your complaining BC people/ Quebec haters, if it's so bad in Canada why dont you just separate already?

David in AB
said

I understand the need to maintain accurate representation-by-population breakdown in the HoC, but why increase the total number of MPs? Why not have a set number (ie: 300 MPs) and just rework the distribution of those 300 seats every 5 years (or every x years).I also dislike the special treatment Quebec gets. I believe they should be treated equally and only be allocated the number of seats the provincial population dictates.

Terry from Ontario
said

What happened to Saving Taxpayers $$... Are we printing more paper to pay for this.... Oh Yes Paper Paid by those who put you in power, the taxpayer. How much does each Seat cost when you add changing boundaries, paying for offices, paying MP's, paying their expenses, rebuilding the old home to accommodate all these new seats. And all the marketing that must happen to tell us what you did. Is this a Make Work Strategy???You said you would be cutting expenses and we put you there with a majority to do so,. Not change structure and rules so you have excuses to spend more. Companies everywhere in your country are looking for ways to scrape is we lose Us contracts due to BUY US Laws, ways to survive as cost of living increases from Utilities and Services increase. Why more and Why now! Just Ranting as more seats for more people not to know how to vote as our Government has forgotten Who The People are that make it exist. Do we need a NEW PARTY FOR THE PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY??

Jim in Saskatoon
said

At a time when governments should be cutting costs the addition of 30 new MP's and related staffing and office costs makes no sense. Instead the government should freeze the number of elected members and redistribute who has what. First place to loss should be those with too many seats for their declining population.Yes, I recognize that we need to amend the Canada Act to do this, but there is no better time than now to do it.

gm
said

The Harper government is closing departments and laying off staff with 30 years of service to cut money from the operating budgets to meet his goal of shrinking government .. now he has the money to beef up the house of commons..where is that money going to come from ??. He is cutting from the low end salary employees to free up money for the high end salaried positions...hmmm

Don K
said

While I understand the logic of adding more seats if the population grows, you can't tell me that politicians are being bombarded by constituents and that we need more politicians to "handle the people". There are some MPs with over 100,000 people in their riding and some with less than 50,000. Secondly, where on earth are these extra 30 people going to sit? I've been to Ottawa many times on tours of Parliament Hill and the house of commons and there just isn't room for another 30 seats!

Kathleen
said

SK has one of the leading economies in the country and we're growing fast and yet... I see nothing here. With Quebec decreasing and you adding seats thats nothing more than brown nosing and given that they're starting to lean NDP then the Cons will lose out; ON has typically gone Liberal and again more seats. The Cons have been about decreasing gov't input and they're continuing to go back on their word on this as well. For the first time in my voting history, in the last election I did not vote Cons and when it pops up again I won't. They continue to break promises - personally I think they should be charged with fraud for manipulating the vote to something that they never intended to do.

Bryn in B C
said

I'd just like to mention to those who are frustrated at Quebec's extra seats that we're still facing the promises made by Trudeau so many years ago.We won't ever be able to cut seats because of those promises, even though it makes sense. The only thing we can do is to add seats in growing areas to help balance the proportions. At least the Conservatives are trying to do something fair for all, so let's give them some credit here.

David Siemens
said

Give thought to a new building as well as new seats. The place is a tomb for our whole Gov't. if there ever was an earthquake. That fore-thought should always be taken seriously in our trembling planet..

Let Me See - Ottawa
said

To Bob in Ottawa NOT voting Conservative again..let's hope you are "bilingual" as it appears that the Liberals, NDP and Bloc do not want anyone to succeed in a job who isn't...will never vote Liberal again..Federal and/or Provincially...good qualified Auditor General chosen to replace Sheila Fraser but of course is only in the process of taking "french" so these MP's including the Liberals up in the Senate are against this appointment...hence "English"

G
said

@ Steve...this is just making fair representation...

C. Bryce Code, esq.
said

Incredible! BC and Alberta will have a combined population more than 400,000 greater than Quebec's but will STILL have 2 less seats in Parliament after this reallocation. Why is it acceptable in Canadian politics to continually keep these provinces under-represented? Giving Quebec more seats, despite its either neutral or declining population, is also ridiculous as all other allocations of seats arise from what Quebec has. Now the base number for Quebec will be 78 instead of 75 (as you can be sure no Government will ever take away 3 seats from Quebec). This is not a solution and Alberta and BC (and Ontario) get the shaft again!

Steve H
said

Harper had already increased the size of government by more than 12% now he's making it even bigger. I thought a conservative government promised smaller government. Looks like their conserving the number of people in the private sector by adding more politicians that do nothing but suck money from our pockets.

Alex in AB
said

@ Judy in B.C.Hear! Hear! Agree with you on that comment. But why ask a question that we already know the answer to? "Where is the money coming from?" I know we ask that same question in the hope that we will get a different answer that we can all agree upon. Not gonna happen.

Sens/Habs Fan - Ottawa
said

To Judy in B.C. it's important that your Province receive more representation in the House of Commons...after Trudeau Liberals and how the West was ignored it's about time that a Prime Minister from the West gives more recognition for you Canadians also, and Ontario...

Hendrik Pape
said

There are pros and cons to this idea.The key con is it will cost more $$ for taxpayersBut on the pro side it will give greater representation to some of the larger ridings out there, will have to see how and where these extra ridings are placed.

Bob in Ottawa
said

I am absolutely sick of the pandering to Quebec and I'm not going to take it any more. I've always voted conservative but I'm done. Sorry John Baird. Not that it was you personally but that's my riding and I won't be showing up for you next time. Better hope you pick up those extra seats in Quebec, but we both know you won't.

Judy in B.C.
said

in this time of trying to cut the budget the gov't should be cutting seats in the House of Commonsnot adding them. Where is this money coming from to pay additional people to sit and do so little for the country? Lets be real, we don't need more people in the house of commons, if anything it should be cut

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Labour Minister Lisa Raitt speaks in the House of Commons in Ottawa on Monday, May 28, 2012. (Adrian Wyld / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

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