November 15, 2012
Mowat Centre Report on the Proposed Federal Electoral Boundaries for Ontario
This Mowat Note evaluates the map proposed by the Federal Electoral Boundary Commission for Ontario as part of the 2012 Redistribution of Federal Electoral Districts. While the proposed map makes progress overall, it deviates unnecessarily from the central principle of voter equality to the continued detriment of many Canadians living in Ontario.
Executive Summary
The Mowat Centre and its researchers have documented in a series of reports the trend away from the principle of voter equality in the allocation of Federal Electoral Districts (FEDs) to provinces and the drawing of electoral boundaries within provinces.1 These papers demonstrated the significant and growing under-representation of new Canadians, Canadians living in Ontario, and suburban Canadians in our three fastest growing provinces. Canada is increasingly an outlier when compared to other federations and is remarkably out-of-step with our own historical commitment to representation by population.
The Fair Representation Act,2 passed by the federal government in 2011, responded to many of our suggestions for a more balanced legislative framework and created conditions that would allow Canada to move closer to voter equality. However, how well independent boundary commissions draw the electoral maps in each province determines whether Canada achieves voter equality.
This Report evaluates the map proposed by the Federal Electoral Boundary Commission for Ontario as part of the 2012 Redistribution of FEDs.3 While the proposed map makes progress overall, it deviates unnecessarily from the central principle of voter equality to the continued detriment of many Canadians living in Ontario.
This report draws five key conclusions.
- First, Ontario’s proposed map deviates much more from voter equality than proposed maps in comparable provinces. Like Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia have fast-growing cities and suburbs in combination with geographically expansive rural and remote regions. Alberta and British Columbia, however, have adhered more closely to voter equality.
- Second, the Commission focused on allocating FEDs fairly among artificial regions, as opposed to ensuring fair representation for residents of each FED itself. While the majority of regions are represented fairly, many voters within regions are significantly under- or overrepresented.
- Third, the Commission’s emphasis on preserving FEDs within existing municipal boundaries has led to unnecessary deviations from voter equality. Municipal boundaries are potentially relevant factors to consider under community of interest, but where they lead to widely varying constituency populations, the principle of voter equality should take precedence.
- Fourth, not all ridings defined as “Northern” by the Commission are truly remote nor raise the issue of unmanageable geographic size. Accommodations need to be made for extremely large, remote ridings such as Kenora, as the Commission has done. Ridings of manageable geographic size, however, should adhere closely to representation by population.
- Fifth, the proposed map does not correct the chronic under-representation of rapidly growing parts of the province. Many cities and suburbs became increasingly under-represented as their populations expanded after the 2003 Redistribution. While some of these areas have been allocated additional FEDs to account for an increase in population, many continue to be under-represented under the proposed map. Their under-representation is likely to grow over the coming decade. The fairness of the map over the 10-year redistribution cycle should be taken into account.
This Report will first consider the fundamental value of voter equality and then move on to discuss
each of these points in turn.
Authors
Melissa Molson & Michael Pal
Release Date
November 15, 2012
ISBN
978-1-927350-31-7
Mowat Publication
No. 55
- Michael Pal and Sujit Choudhry, “Is Every Ballot Equal? Visible Minority Vote Dilution in Canada” (2007)13(1) IRPP Choices; Andrew Sancton, “The Principle of Representation by Population in Canadian Federal Politics” March 2010, Mowat Centre for Policy Innovation: https://mowatcentre.munkschool.utoronto.ca/pdfs/
mowatResearch/11.pdf; Matthew Mendelsohn, “Some Are More Equal Than Others: Canadian Political Representation in Comparative Context” March 2010, Mowat Note: https://mowatcentre.munkschool.utoronto.ca/pdfs/mowatResearch/10.pdf; Matthew Mendelsohn and Sujit Choudhry, “Voter Equality and Other Canadian Values: Finding the Right Balance” October 2011, Mowat Note: https://mowatcentre.munkschool.utoronto.ca/research-topic-mowat.php?mowatResearchID=37. [↩] - SC 2011, c. 26. [↩]
- Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for the Province of Ontario, Proposal for the Province of Ontario (2012): http://www.redecoupage-federal-redistribution.ca/on/now/proposals/on_proposal_e.pdf. [↩]