Parliament and Representation: The Unfinished Agenda of Electoral Redistributions

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Political Science
• Main Author: Courtney, John C.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1988
• Subjects: Sociology and Political Science; Northwest Territories; Carr
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0008423900057395; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0008423900057395

Abstract Since 1964, federal electoral boundary readjustments have been the responsibility of independent commissions—one for each province and one for the Northwest Territories. The three redistributions completed to date under the new arrangements suggest that the commissions have increasingly accepted a substantial measure of intraprovincial population equality as the standard by which to define electoral boundaries. At the same time Parliament, in its debates and amendments to the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act , has urged commissions to move in the opposite direction by creating more, rather than fewer, electoral districts of unequal populations. These contrary positions derive from different views of what counts in determining electoral boundaries—territory or population. Drawing on American experience since Baker v. Carr (1962), Canadian courts may eventually be called upon to resolve the issue.