Fair Representation Act (Canada)

The Fair Representation Act is an act of the Parliament of Canada and was passed by the 41st Canadian Parliament in 2011.[1][2] The Act was introduced as Bill C-20 with the long title An Act to amend the Constitution Act, 1867, the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act and the Canada Elections Act.[3]

Not to be confused with Fair Representation Act (United States).
Fair Representation Act
Parliament of Canada
  • An Act to amend the Constitution Act, 1867, the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act and the Canada Elections Act
Considered byParliament of Canada
Assented toDecember 16, 2011
Legislative history
BillC-20
Introduced byTim Uppal
Amends
Related legislation
Preserving Provincial Representation in the House of Commons Act

The legislation amended the Constitution Act, 1867 and modified the redistricting process contained within it.[4] Amendments affecting proportionate representation between the provinces, require support of seven provinces representing at least 50% of the population of Canada. Because the Fair Representation Act did not affect the proportionate representation of the provinces, it was passed without approval of the provinces.[4] The legislation could be passed by the Parliament of Canada alone, under section 44 of the Constitution Act, 1982.[4]

In 2012, the federal electoral redistribution was conducted using the amended formula introduced by the Fair Representation Act. It increased the number of MPs in the most populous provinces: Quebec gained three, Ontario gained 15, British Columbia gained six and Alberta gained six.[2]

The 2022 federal electoral redistribution began under the formula created by the Act, but in March 2022 the House of Commons rejected the allocation it produced.[5][6] As a result, the government introduced the Preserving Provincial Representation in the House of Commons Act.[5][7]

References
  1. "C-20: An Act to amend the Constitution Act, 1867, the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act and the Canada Elections Act". Parliament of Canada. December 16, 2011. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
  2. "30 more MPs for rebalanced House of Commons". cbc.ca. October 26, 2011.
  3. Thandi Fletcher (December 16, 2011). "Crowded House: Parliament gets cozier as 30 seats added". Canada.com. Postmedia News. Archived from the original on March 14, 2013. Retrieved December 19, 2011.
  4. Bryden, Joan (November 5, 2021). "Ottawa needs support from majority of provinces to guarantee Quebec's share of Commons seats". CBC News. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
  5. CBC News (March 4, 2022). "Ottawa to protect number of Quebec Commons seats, stop province from losing MP". CBC News. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  6. Woolf, Marie (March 4, 2022). "Feds to protect number of Quebec's Commons seats to ensure province doesn't lose MP". Global News. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  7. "C-14: An Act to amend the Constitution Act, 1867 (electoral representation)". Parliament of Canada. 2022. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.