L19. Political Representation in Canada 2

Question 1

How was redistribution controlled prior to 1964 in Canada?

Answer 1

Was controlled by the house of commons
- was a partisan and political process (whatever party was in power would use redistribution for political advantage by giving themselves more seats)

4 common practices
- keep incumbent stable districts the same
- eliminate districts were the MP was already planning on retiring
- use redistribution process to reduce number of seats held by opposition
- in highly populated areas, don’t take away a seat instead balance population and representation by adding a seat

Question 2

What was the Electoral Boundary Commission Readjustment Act (EBRA)?

Answer 2

• A 3rd party group in charge of districting
• came about in 1964

Question 3

Why did parliament transfer to EBRA?

Answer 3

• hard to know
• speculation that both parties were unsure who was going to win the upcoming election, both worried that the other would win and change boundaries (can’t trust each other, put power in the hands of someone else)

Question 4

What is the boundary commissions format as conducted by EBRA?

Answer 4

1 commission for each province (10 in total)
- shifts power from federal to regional
3 members in each commission (appointed and nominated)
- 1 judge (judicial authority that is non-partisan)
- 2 other people usually academics (often retired political scientists)
3 major steps
- propose boundaries
- consult (public hearings and parliment)
- revise if needed

Question 5

What are the EBRA criterions?

Answer 5

Population criterion
- largest district should be no larger than 25% above the quotient, smallest should not smaller than 25% below the quotient (this is a very big swing in Canada)
Geographic criterion??
Community of interest criterion
- completely undefined
- “historical power of a district” (aka don’t make big changes”)
regional representation
- constituencies seen as communities not as a group of individuals
- influences the idea of what need to be represented in elections
- favours rural over urban areas

Question 6

name some differences between representation and districts the US and Canada

Answer 6

• population deviations
• form of representation
• how are constituencies defined