I saw a story on CBC.ca about how BC and Alberta's population is larger than Quebec's for the first time in history. It goes on to say that a total of 64 members of Parliament are chosen from B.C.and Alberta, compared to Quebec's 75 seats. This piqued my interest, so I went to Elections Canada's website and had a look around.
Quebec rural ridings;
Abitibi--Baie-James--Nunavik--Eeyou (Quebec) has a population of 80,052 with 56,615 registered voters
Manicouagan (Quebec) has a population of 84,872 with 64,537 registered voters and 186 polling divisions.
Chicoutimi--Le Fjord (Quebec) has a population of 98,739 with 78,073 registered voters and 199 polling divisions
Montmorency--Charlevoix--Haute-Côte-Nord (Quebec) has a population of 89,257 with 74,190 registered voters and 203 polling divisions
Portneuf--Jacques-Cartier (Quebec) has a population of 87,141 with 73,483 registered voters and 172 polling divisions.
Jonquière--Alma (Quebec) has a population of 98,167 with 78,153 registered voters and 209 polling divisions
Alberta rural ridings;
Peace River (Alberta) has a population of 123,877 with 89,318 registered voters and 252 polling divisions.
Fort McMurray--Athabasca (Alberta) has a population of 88,882 with 65,496 registered voters and 168 polling divisions.
Yellowhead (Alberta) has a population of 98,009 with 71,664 registered voters and 204 polling divisions.
Westlock--St. Paul (Alberta) has a population of 99,081 with 72,231 registered voters and 187 polling divisions
Wild Rose (Alberta) has a population of 101,690 with 82,230 registered voters and 193 polling divisions.
Medicine Hat (Alberta) has a population of 105,009 with 79,634 registered voters and 192 polling divisions.
Vegreville--Wainwright (Alberta) has a population of 107,771 with 79,393 registered voters and 219 polling divisions.
In almost every case, the Albertan riding has a larger population. In urban ridings its the same case. By rights, Alberta should have a few more seats.
This got me really thinking, is the practice of smaller riding populations for Eastern provinces more widespread? Do western provinces have a trend towards higher populations in their ridings?
Oh yes, they honestly do. BC has many high population ridings, while Ontario has quite a few very low population ridings.
posted by Albertan Technophile at 9/27/2006 09:20:00 AM
7 Comments:
You will need to live with this one as it won't change in our life time. There are so many conditions that off set any western gains that the powers won't address it. PEI has 4 members for a population of 120 thousand. Vancouver Island has 6 with a pop of over 700000. go figure
A new country perhaps?
Guess where you get the most bang for the buck with your vote buying dollar?
There needs to be more ridings in BC and Alberta and this can and will be done not only within my lifetime but soon.
How could any liberal say otherwise?
"A new country perhaps?"
Not a solution. I love Canada way too much!
I'm really impressed at the number of comments! Thank you people for taking the time.
The West has been getting screwed politically for a long time and there no will in the East to instill the most basic democratic principles in our institutions like Parliament. Even wealthy Ontario is over-represented compared to Alberta and BC. We are truly a pathetic country. BTW, I live in Toronto and I'm appalled by the apathy on this issue.
Well, since the political base of the party in power is the west, one could hope for more ridings...
A conservative majority could fix this imbalance as it would be in their best interests, the liberals on the other hand would not want to disadvantage themselves.
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