“Mr. Speaker, the hon. member brought up riding size as an issue. He said that his riding is about 20,000 square kilometres. Mine is 83,600 square kilometres, so I feel that it is an even worse situation. The hon. member said he wanted all the votes to be equal. Would he endeavour to have the review a little more often? I know that in Alberta, we each represent 115,000 people on average, far more than members in some of the other provinces do. Would the Liberals consider shortening the time for the review rather than having it every 10 years?”
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Claims 77%Reasoning 23%
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Mr. Speaker, Claims · 130 wordsas the member may know, there is a law in place that establishes the number of seats, how they are distributed and so on.1I think he said there are about 115,000 people in his riding, which is about the same number as in my own riding of Gatineau.2For the most part, I think that with respect to ridings, other than the constitutional obligations we have at the founding of the country, we have achieved a very good balance and a very good way of dividing constituencies.That, of course, means that Yellowhead is a very large riding because of its vast, beautiful spaces, with people distributed all around the territory.3That is, of course, a challenge for anyone who seeks to represent that incredible part of our country, Reasoning · 39 wordsbut it is one we need to continue to address by following the Supreme Court’s guidance that, while we should deviate a little bit, one vote in one place should equal what one vote in another place is worth.4
