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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 55

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 7, 2022 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 55 - Apr/7/22
Mr. Kody Blois
  • Apr/7/22 1:38:34 p.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-14 
Madam Speaker, a tip of the cap to the member, as I have 5,000 square kilometres and that makes me look like small peanuts compared to the member opposite is dealing with. I salute him and can appreciate how difficult those challenges are. As I mentioned in my speech, I believe this is a very important point about the rurality of our country and ensuring that members of Parliament who are expected to represent these areas can do so adequately. I think it is an open question, notwithstanding calling this member's advocacy into question, on the actual size. As he mentioned, working with 500 elected officials is extremely challenging. I want to separate the conversation around the amount of seats within a province or territory versus how we actually distribute within those provinces. As we see migration of larger numbers in urban areas, perhaps urban MPs will have to take on a larger proportion of constituents so we can make some of these rural ridings smaller geographically to make sure there is that equity. Right now, I know, for example, in Nova Scotia, and I do not pretend to know the federal aspect, there is a proportion of variance that is allowed when we look at these different elements. Perhaps that has to be extended even further to allow urban areas to have more constituents in a smaller place, and then also allow people, like this member, to have a more reasonable size and scope of geography to cover.
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Context: House Hansard - 55 - Apr/7/22
Mr. Kody Blois (Kings—Hants, Lib.)
  • Apr/7/22 1:53:46 p.m.
  • Watch
  • Re: Bill C-14 
Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague and I may not always agree on discussion points and politics, but I do respect his ability to stand before the House without notes to recite his speeches and bring forward his points. I just had a Q and A with the member of Parliament for Peace River—Westlock, my hon. colleague's colleague, about the rurality of the country and the fact that his riding is 100,000 square kilometres. He talked about effective representation, and we talked about the challenges, of course, notwithstanding the fact that there has been a rural-urban shift. It is important to take into consideration those elements so that rural MPs can still represent their constituents in a reasonable fashion. Would the member agree that with the current structure, when we look at the dynamic within the provinces and territories, we have to make sure that rural representation remains an important piece, particularly with the size and geography of federal ridings at this point?
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