Hon. Claude Carignan (Acting Deputy Leader of the Opposition): Honourable senators, I rise today in support of Bill C-14, An Act to amend the Constitution Act, 1867, in relation to electoral representation. My comments today will be brief, for I intend to go into greater detail at the third reading stage of Bill C-14. I hope my observations will answer Senator Julie Miville-Dechêne’s questions in particular.

Bill C-14 basically amends the grandfather clause in the electoral boundaries formula. Currently, this grandfather clause, referred to as the “1985 clause,” sets out that no province will have fewer electoral districts when the electoral map is redrawn than it had in 1985. The amendment in Bill C-14 updates that clause for the Forty-third Parliament. In other words, it states that no province will have fewer electoral districts when the electoral map is redrawn than it had in the Forty-third Parliament.

This provision is ultimately intended to ensure that Quebec does not lose a seat, as the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada’s new projection called for.

As you know, colleagues, section 51(1) of the Constitution Act, 1867, requires that the electoral map be readjusted every 10 years. The introduction to section 51(1) reads as follows:

The number of members of the House of Commons and the representation of the provinces therein shall, on the completion of each decennial census, be readjusted by such authority, in such manner, and from such time as the Parliament of Canada provides from time to time. . . .

Canada has been changing immensely since its creation in 1867, and successive governments take advantage of the decennial census to adjust the representation rules in order to adapt to the contemporary realities of our society, including on a demographic level.

For this reason, in 1986, Parliament passed Bill C-74, the Representation Act, 1985. The two objectives of this bill were to limit the growth of the number of elected members that the formula used back then would have caused, as a way to save money, but also to prevent Parliament from becoming too big, which would have limited the privileges of each member.

At the time, it was predicted that if nothing was done, the House of Commons would have 369 members after the 2001 census. Let’s not forget that we have 338 members today, after the last boundaries readjustment process, which was done after the passage of the Fair Representation Act in 2011. I will come back to that.

The second objective of Bill C-74, which was passed in 1986, was to introduce a grandfather clause providing that a province’s number of MPs could not decrease even if the provincial population decreased slightly. This is what is now known as the 1985 clause, and it is directly affected by Bill C-14.

Then, after the 2011 census, Prime Minister Harper’s Conservative government passed the Fair Representation Act, as I mentioned earlier. This bill was intended to correct a certain imbalance in the representation of the provinces in the House of Commons. Two of the “whereas” clauses in this bill read as follows:

Whereas the principle of proportionate representation of the provinces must balance the fair and equitable representation of faster-growing provinces and the effective representation of smaller and slower-growing provinces;

Whereas the populations of faster-growing provinces are currently under-represented in the House of Commons and members of the House of Commons for those provinces therefore represent, on average, significantly more populous electoral districts than members for other provinces;

(1910)

After this bill was passed, the number of seats in the House of Commons increased from 308 to 338. However, the 1985 grandfather clause was not amended by the Fair Representation Act that was assented to on December 16, 2011.

Following the last census of the population of Canada by Statistics Canada, which was tabled in the fall of 2021 and updated in February 2022, the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada has to readjust the electoral map to reflect the country’s changing demographic, as required by section 51 of the Constitution Act, 1867.

The most recent count would increase the number of MPs in three provinces, with Ontario getting one more MP, Alberta three more and British Columbia one more. However, given its slower population growth, Quebec would lose one seat, going from 78 MPs to 77. Parliamentarians in the House of Commons unanimously denounced this situation and proposed various solutions. The Bloc Québécois introduced a bill to ensure that Quebec never has less than 25% of the seats in the House of Commons. This bill is still being examined in the other place, but I wouldn’t bet on its chances of moving forward. Then, the government introduced Bill C-14, which we are beginning to examine today. It was passed in the other place on June 15, 2022.

When we debate this bill at third reading, I will talk about the formula for changing the electoral map, the concept of effective representation, the role of the Senate, and the importance of the new 2021 grandfather clause.

I therefore invite you to vote in favour of this bill at second reading.

Hon. Éric Forest: I’m pleased to rise today to speak to Bill C-14, which would protect Quebec’s 78th seat in the House of Commons.

As you know, the electoral boundaries are redistributed every 10 years to ensure that all ridings have approximately the same weight. The idea is to ensure political equality among citizens, which is a fundamental democratic principle. Although the Constitution affirms the principle of representation proportional to the population, it’s important to note that it does allow for exceptions to this principle to ensure effective representation that reflects our country’s regional and geographic diversity.

For example, it states that a province shall always be entitled to a number of members in the House of Commons not less than the number of senators representing such province. Each of the three territories has its own member of Parliament, regardless of any fluctuations in population. There is also a grandfather clause that guarantees that no province can have fewer seats than it had in 1985. Note that the grandfather clause allows for a minimum of 75 seats for Quebec, which is not enough to guarantee it the 78 seats it currently has.

I should also point out that these exceptions to representation by population have been challenged in court and have been recognized as legitimate.

Under the current readjustment formula, Quebec would lose one seat. According to the Chief Electoral Officer’s proposal, Quebec’s weight in the House of Commons would be further reduced to 22.5%. In 1867, Quebec representatives accounted for 36% of the House of Commons and fell below 25% in the 1999 redistribution.

Bill C-14 ensures that Quebec will not lose a seat in the redistribution process. This bill is the result of a political compromise: Bill C-14 was passed in the House of Commons on division. That said, I would be remiss if I did not mention that even though Bill C-14 allows Quebec to keep its 78th seat, it does not allow Quebec to keep its relative weight in the House of Commons because seats are being added for the rest of Canada. In fact, Quebec’s representation in the House of Commons will drop from 23.1% to 22.7%, even if it retains the 78th seat as provided for in Bill C-14.

According to the office of Quebec’s minister responsible for Canadian relations, Sonia LeBel, Bill C-14 is a very good first step, but the minister points out that Quebec must still maintain its relative weight and says she will continue to work toward achieving that goal. The Legault government is sticking to Quebec’s traditional constitutional stance and demanding protection from the erosion of its relative weight in the House of Commons.

It is worth noting that the 1992 Charlottetown Accord guaranteed Quebec 25% of the seats in the House of Commons. It is also worth noting that, in 2010, when the Harper government introduced a bill that would have reduced Quebec’s weight in the House of Commons, the National Assembly unanimously reiterated that:

 . . . Québec, as a nation, must be able to enjoy special protection for the weight of its representation in the House of Commons. . . .

The National Assembly also called on members of all political parties in Ottawa to reject any bill that would reduce the weight of Quebec’s representation in the House of Commons.

I understand that the section of the Constitution that pertains to the number of seats for each province can be unilaterally amended by Parliament, but the same is not true of the principle of proportional representation, which requires the approval of seven provinces representing 50% of the population.

In conclusion, I would argue that while Bill C-14 prevents Quebec from being the first province to lose a seat in the House of Commons since 1966, the fact remains that without this constitutional change, Quebec is doomed to see its political weight erode, as it has since 1867, because of its demographic weight.