SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 72

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 16, 2022 11:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 72 - May/16/22
Mr. Scott Reid (Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, CPC)
  • May/16/22 8:13:17 p.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-14 
Madam Speaker, one of the things that has always troubled me is that the foundational deal under which Canada was set up was equal representation for regions in the Upper House and representation by population in the Lower House. We have seen a very significant departure from representation by population, or rep by pop, in the Lower House, but in the Upper House we have seen a departure as well in the same direction. There are 24 senators for Ontario, 24 for Quebec, 24 for the western provinces and more than 30 for the Atlantic region, despite the fact that the Atlantic region has less than half the population of the next-smallest region. Going back to the idea of the triple-E Senate, which was explored in the 1990s, would it make sense to advocate for all of the regions to at least have the same number of senators as the Atlantic region has?
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