Less Is More

In the coming weeks, a bill will be introduced in the House to increase the number of seats by 30 to 35. Ontario, Albterta and BC will be the beneficiaries.

These provinces have been quite seriously underrepresented for the past two decades, so this move is understandable.

But here's the problem: this the country will continue to grow for the foreseable future, so at the rate we're moving, the House will have 400 members (far more than it can cope with) by the end of the century. Britain went in that direction -simply adding seats indefinitely-, and they now have so many MPs that there is only standing room for backbenchers. The situation has gotten to the point where Gordon Brown wants to reduce the number of MPs. Clearly, we need to put a permanent system in place that will spare Parliament from having to do as British and add 20 odd seats every 20 years.

I would suggest capping the House at 240 members (the size it will reach if the aforementioned bill passes), and mandating Elections Canada to reditribute ridings every ten years or so. This would mean that some MPs would lose their ridings, while other ridings would be created out of nothing. But anyone who has seen the poor British MPs huddled together tightly on their benches in miserable working conditions will agree that it's a better plan than the alternative.