Mr. Speaker, I apologize to the member and the members opposite. I was canvassing this morning and I forgot to change before I came in. I apologize.
It is not possible at this time to cap or reduce. Hon. members concluded that the establishment of such a cap or reduction would require all provinces to agree to the amendment of section 51 of the Constitution Act of 1867, in order to eliminate the requirement of proportional representation among the provinces, and the amendment of section 51A of that same act to eliminate the so-called Senate floor provision which ensures that no province shall have fewer members of Parliament than it has senators.
Any cap or reduction would unfairly penalize provinces with growing populations unless constitutional guarantees of disproportionate over-representation for provinces with smaller or declining populations were abolished. The abolishing of such guarantees could result in a sudden and drastic loss of representation by provinces with smaller or declining populations and by large, sparsely populated rural areas anywhere in Canada, including in the north.
The committee's decision means that the current compromise system of calculating the number of seats in the House of Commons will apply to the redistribution of seats based on the results of the 1991 census. The small increase in the number of seats from the current 295 to 301 would appear to be reasonable, given the overall increase in the population of Canada. Two of the six new seats will go to the fast growing province of British Columbia and four more to populous Ontario.
The committee does not recommend any changes in the structure of the federal boundary commissions. The chair of each commission would be appointed by the chief justice of the province and the other two members would be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Commons as has been the case in the past.
However, the bill which has been prepared by the committee provides for the Speaker to publicize the upcoming appointments and solicit applications. The Speaker would be expected to hold a wide range of consultations before making any appointments. The Speaker would then table his or her appointments in the House of Commons where a procedure would exist for 20 or more members to request a vote on any individual appointment. In the absence of a negative resolution, the appointments would be final after 10 sitting days. I am in full agreement with this opening up of the appointments process which has been recommended by the committee.
With respect to the powers, processes and proceedings of the federal electoral boundaries commission, it should be emphasized that a major reason for the suspension of the redistribution process last year and the approval of the order of reference of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs was the perception by many Canadians, and I include many of my constituents among them, that they had been excluded from the process.
Many people felt they were suddenly surprised by extensive proposals for major changes in electoral boundaries without having had any opportunity to influence the content of those proposals. That was certainly the case in the riding of Peterborough.
The recommendations contained in the report now being debated are designed to ensure that Canadians have a better opportunity for fuller participation in an improved redistribution process based on the 1991 census. Among those recommendations are the following.
In order to ensure that the public is better informed about the redistribution process from the outset, electoral boundary commissions "should provide general information about the redistribution process and statistical information on the province and census results as well as a general statement describing the manner in which it intends to proceed with the readjustment of electoral boundaries. Interested parties would then have 30 days in which to submit comments on the general parameters of the process".
Electoral boundaries commissions would be required to prepare three plans and maps showing alternate ways in which boundaries could be drawn rather than a single map that was proposed in the past.
There is also a provision for a second round of public hearings on the proposed boundaries recommended by a commission if the changes which result from the first round of public hearings are significant. The second set of hearings could be held if the commission or the Chief Electoral Officer so decided.
Members here will be interested to know that they will in future be on equal footing with other residents of Canada with respect to the proposals of commissions when the requirement that the commissions' proposals be tabled in the House of Commons for debate and study by a committee is eliminated.
The time period between the proclamation of a representation order based on the final report of the commissions and its coming into force will be reduced from 12 months to 7 months. This delay is provided in order to give Elections Canada, returning officers and political organizations time to reorganize their operations on the basis of the new electoral boundaries.
On the subject of the actual drawing of electoral district boundaries during the course of redistribution, I am especially interested in and support the committee's recommendation with respect to the factors which must be considered by electoral boundary commissions. I refer here to community of interest, manageable geographic size for districts in sparsely populated rural and northern regions of the province, and the probability that there will be a substantial increase of population within those areas over the next five years.
They would also be directed to recommend changes to existing boundaries only where these factors are sufficiently significant to warrant them.
Community of interest is more clearly spelled out in the bill prepared by this committee.
Clause 19(4) provides that "community of interest includes such factors as the economy, existing or traditional boundaries of electoral districts, the rural or urban characteristics of the territory, the boundaries of municipalities or Indian reserves, natural boundaries and access to means of communication and transport".
In my riding, the township of Ennismore and the First Nation of Curve Lake were specifically put at a disadvantage because community of interest was not defined in this way in the previous attempt to reallocate those boundaries.
These provisions should ensure that future electoral boundaries commissions will be obligated to consider the factors specified which should result in the drafting of more reasonable and acceptable boundaries.
In an effort to minimize the possible effects on electoral boundaries of changes in population recorded as a result of the major 10-year census which is conducted in the years ending with a one, 1991, 2001 and so on, the committee recommends that there should be redistribution of electoral districts within provinces on the basis of the five-year census. Those are the census which take place in the years ending in six, 1996 and 2006. In those years, although there might redistribution within a province there would be no change in the number of electoral districts in that province.
In a further effort to minimize the possible effect of population changes recorded as a result of the major 10-year census, the committee also recommends that no electoral boundary commissions should be established where no significant changes in population have occurred. If the number of electoral districts to which a province is entitled remains unchanged as a result of the 10-year census and none of the existing districts is above or below the 25 per cent provincial quotient, no commission would be established.
In the case of the five-year census a commission would only be established if more than 10 per cent of a provinces electoral districts vary by more than 25 per cent from the provincial quotient.
I know this is very clear to you, Mr. Speaker, but I would like to explain a little bit further. While the committee has not recommended any change to the maximum possible population deviation at 25 per cent above or below the provincial quotient established as the ideal average population for electoral district as a result of the 10-year census, the committee does recommend the elimination of the provision which permits an even greater deviation in exceptional circumstances.
However, the committee does recognize that there may be exceptional circumstances by recommending that electoral districts whose population deviation is greater than the permissible 25 per cent should be specifically set out in a schedule to the legislation which can only be amended by an act of Parliament. The exceptional ridings will be listed separately and can only be changed by an act of Parliament.
It is essential that the process of readjustment of electoral boundaries be completed so that the next federal general election, which is expected to take place in 1997 or 1998, be contested on the basis of electoral districts whose boundaries fairly reflect their populations as established by the 10-year census that was conducted in 1991.
It would be grossly unfair to residents in areas where they have been major changes in population if that election was contested on the basis of the present electoral district boundaries which were established on the basis of the census of 1981.
I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak in this debate and I would be glad to attempt to answer questions or engage in discussion with members.