Preserving Provincial Representation in the House of Commons Act

As of April 2022, the Preserving Provincial Representation in the House of Commons Act, introduced and also referred to as Bill C-14, is a proposed bill introduced in the 44th Canadian Parliament. It would make a section 44 amendment to the Constitution of Canada to guarantee that the province of Quebec will not lose a seat in the 2022 Canadian federal electoral redistribution.[2] The Bill was introduced as Bill C-14 with the long title An Act to amend the Constitution Act, 1867 (electoral representation).[3]

Preserving Provincial Representation in the House of Commons Act
Parliament of Canada
  • An Act to amend the Constitution Act, 1867 (electoral representation)
Legislative history
BillC-14
Introduced byDominic LeBlanc
First readingMarch 24, 2022[1]
Amends
Related legislation
Fair Representation Act
Status: Pending

Objectives

This enactment amends section 51 of the Constitution Act, 1867 to provide that, when the number of members of the House of Commons and the representation of the provinces in that House are readjusted on the completion of each decennial census, a province will not have fewer members assigned to it than were assigned during the 43rd Parliament. It also includes transitional measures providing for the application of that amendment to the readjustment of electoral boundaries under the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act following the 2021 decennial census.[4]

Provisions

Constitutional Amendment (Sections 2 and 3)

The bill amends the redistribution formula in Rule 2 of section 51(1) of the Constitution Act, 1867, commonly known as the grandfather clause. This rule was put in place by the government of Brian Mulroney in 1985, guaranteeing that no province can be allocated a number of seats that is less than the number of seats it had in 1985.[5] Bill C-14 alters the grandfather clause by amending it to be that no province can be allocated a number of seats that is less than the number of seats it had in the 43rd Canadian Parliament.[3]

Changes to 2022 Redistribution Timeline (Sections 4-7)

With regards to the ongoing 2022 Canadian federal electoral redistribution, the bill prescribes that the implementation of the new map for any province whose seat count changes as a result of the bill will be delayed, but the implementation of new maps for provinces unaffected by the bill will be implemented on the existing timeline.

References
  1. "Constitution Act" (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Canada: House of Commons of Canada. March 24, 2022. p. 3473.
  2. "Liberals table bill to protect number of Quebec seats in Parliament, a condition of deal with NDP". National Post. March 24, 2022.
  3. "An Act to amend the Constitution Act, 1867 (electoral representation)". Parliament of Canada. March 24, 2022.
  4. "BILL C-14: An Act to amend the Constitution Act, 1867 (electoral representation)". Parliament of Canada. March 24, 2022. Retrieved March 24, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. "Fair Representation Act Moves Every Province Towards Rep-Pop". Canada.ca. Government of Canada. October 27, 2011. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
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