44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 7, 2022 10:00AM
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from New Brunswick, the minister, for his efforts and work. This is a big task and I appreciate those efforts.
I know the minister has a great appreciation for a province like New Brunswick, where we have a lot of rural communities and small towns. Some redistribution has been going on. I take it that in this process, that redistribution is being considered and factored in, as is ensuring that while the areas that have an increased population have increased representation, we make sure that our rural areas are not neglected and have proper, solid representation as well.
If the minister could speak to that, it would be most appreciated.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my friend and colleague from Tobique—Mactaquac, that great New Brunswick constituency. Like him, I represent a rural part of our province of New Brunswick and I completely share his interest and his concern in terms of the importance of ensuring that smaller communities and rural communities are represented adequately. Our province will benefit from the senatorial clause, which will not see New Brunswick seats fall below 10 in any redistribution. That is constitutionally guaranteed.
The commission in our province of New Brunswick will have a difficult job of ensuring that rural communities like the ones he represents or that I and other colleagues represent have a fair and proper representation in our province, but in the same way that it is happening across the country, some of the urban parts of our province are growing at a rate that does not reflect some of the small rural communities.
This is a difficult task that the independent commission in our province will have, but I look forward to working with our colleague from Tobique—Mactaquac and others on these important issues.
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Madam Speaker, I appreciated the comments made by the member with regard to the differentiation between urban and rural, because there is a significant difference in the type of representation there.
I am wondering if the member can expand on this. Is he trying to say between the lines that it should be a smaller percentage of population in rural areas than in the bigger urban areas? Is that what he is trying to indirectly imply?
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Quebec for his speech.
Once again, I would like to take the opportunity to ask a question of the hon. member regarding the importance of ensuring that our rural communities and small towns also maintain proper representation in the House because, obviously, we represent, in these types of communities and small areas, a lot of the GDP. It is where a lot of Canadians' food and resources are developed, grown and sent to market.
With all of our deliberations, and as we make sure that the population is properly represented and distributed in the House, we want to also ensure that the voices of rural Canadians are represented as well. Does he have any thoughts on that matter?
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his question.
An urban-rural balance is important. My colleague probably knows that I represent a very urban, densely populated riding, with a population of about 110,000 packed into just 11 square kilometres.
I think that it is important that the electoral boundaries commission's calculations allow for some deviation from the average, so that a riding with a population 20% or 25% lower than the average can still be represented by a member in the House. This would make it possible to account for rural realities in Quebec and Canada.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague. Much like me, he appears to appreciate the extremely important role of our country’s rural populations.
I apologize for my French. I really need to practise. I hope I will get better with time.
It is so important to recognize in this discussion around redistribution and proper representation within this chamber that all people from Canada, regardless of where they live or their geography, should feel like their voices are being heard within this chamber.
I wonder if the member would have some comments on the absolute importance of ensuring that our rural communities, small towns and remote areas maintain significant representation in the House because of the tremendous contributions they make regarding the very food we eat and the resources and energies we produce as a country. I know he would appreciate, being from the great province of Quebec, the tremendous amounts that even the rural regions of western Canada and Atlantic Canada have provided in resources and transfer payments to his beloved province. I am sure he would want to make sure they were represented.
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Madam Speaker, as always it is great to be able to enter into debate. I appreciate very much how my colleague from Quebec outlined the importance of members of Parliament, and of our offices in particular. I know I can compliment not only my staff, but the staff of every member of Parliament across this country who worked significant hours at a time when many government offices, such as Service Canada and whatnot, were closed down. Speaking from my experience and the experience of my office, my office received thousands of calls from people who were desperate for help.
There is an interesting dynamic that exists between rural Canada and many parts of urban Canada. I know it is about five or six hours from corner to corner of my constituency, and I know my colleague from Quebec represents thousands of square kilometres. I am not sure exactly how many thousands.
Would he be able to expand on that unique dynamic that exists, to ensure that we have fair representation that includes the difference between rural and urban?
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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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Madam Speaker, my colleague's intervention today was very detailed and fact-based, and I appreciate his attention to detail.
He talked about the member for Edmonton—Wetaskiwin having 200,000 constituents in his riding, and something I have been thinking a lot about is the nature of representation when we look at the difference between rural and urban. I wonder if the member would be able to speak to that. Considering the difference in priorities and the different challenges that rural and urban ridings face, would he be interested in making sure, as we determine the three new seats in Alberta, that we have urban and rural priorities in line?
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Madam Speaker, that is a good question from my friend, the member for Sarnia—Lambton. There are different challenges that members of Parliament face in representing urban and rural areas. They are taken into account, having regard for additional resources for the members who represent larger ridings by population and by virtue of their geography. However, I underscore that when we allocate seats and draw boundaries, the principle that must be respected to the greatest degree possible is representation by population.
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- Apr/7/22 3:14:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it has been almost a year since Greyhound ended its bus service in Canada. Last May, the minister told us that he would provide “safe, reliable and affordable transportation across the country.” One year later, rural communities are still waiting to hear the plan. Without reliable buses, people cannot get to work or access services, and here in northwest British Columbia on the Highway of Tears, it is particularly concerning for indigenous women and girls.
Will the minister tell us when rural communities will have bus service they can rely on?
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- Apr/7/22 3:14:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I share my hon. colleague's concern about several communities in rural parts of our country that have been lacking access to intercity bus service. Our government is very much concerned with this reality. As I shared with my colleague, the issue is a provincial responsibility. We continue to work with our provincial partners to identify ideas of how we can move forward. I met with several bus operators. We are looking for ways to support them, ensuring that residents in rural areas have access to affordable, reliable and safe intercity bus service.
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