Maverick Party interim leader Jay Hill and former Premier of Saskatchewan Brad Wall slammed Conservative support in a Common’s vote to protect the current number of seats in Quebec..Although Quebec’s population has dropped, the Bloc Québécois rejected the loss of a member of Parliament when Canada’s electoral map is redrawn, and argued it would fail to acknowledge Quebec’s official status as a nation..The Parliamentary motion “was a Bloc Quebecois opposition motion to protect the current number of seats Quebec has in Parliament, even though the existing formula does not support them maintaining their number of MPs, and therefore, number of votes (based on population),” said Hill in a statement. .Hill said the vote — which passed with 261 in favour and 66 opposed — wasn’t surprising..“What may surprise you is that of 115 Conservatives that bothered to vote, 50 voted FOR the Bloc motion,” said Hill..“What also may surprise you is that of those 50 Conservatives voting with the Bloc, 10 are western MPs! I’ve listed them, their provinces and ridings below the actual wording of the motion.”.That, in the opinion of the House:.(a) any scenario for redrawing the federal electoral map that would result in Quebec losing one or more electoral districts or that would reduce Quebec’s political weight in the House of Commons must be rejected; and.(b) the formula for apportioning seats in the House must be amended and the House call on the government to act accordingly..The 10 western MPs who voted in favour of protecting Quebec’s current seat count:.Dan Albas (Central Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola, BC)Frank Caputo (Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo, BC)Marc Dalton (Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge, BC)Ed Fast (Abbotsford, BC)Bob Zimmer (Prince George-PeaceRiver-Northern Rockies, BC)Earl Dreeshen (Red Deer-Mountain View, AB)Cathay Wagantall (Yorkton-Melville, SK)Candice Bergen (Portgage-Lisgar, MB)Raquel Dancho (Kildonan-St. Paul, MB)Larry Maguire (Brandon-Souris, MB).“Do YOU seriously believe that the Conservative Party of Canada is serious about addressing the legitimate grievances of the West (and their constituents) when they can’t even unite in voting against this preferential treatment for Quebec?” said Hill.“Isn’t it way past time to do like the Bloc Quebecois and elect MPs that will represent, and vote in our best interests? ENOUGH!”.Former Conservative and the 14th premier of Saskatchewan, Brad Wall, spoke out on Facebook against the Conservative’s support..“Do you think Saskatchewan or Alberta would have gotten similar treatment in a similar circumstance?” asked Wall, with respect to the 50 Conservative MPs supporting the Bloc Québécois motion..“This sort of conduct on the part of western Conservative MPs and the party, in general, has many in the West asking — on important matters of the Canadian federation — what truly is the difference between the Conservatives and Liberals?”.Wall said both parties support “what is often called asymmetrical federalism,” and described it as one province receiving different treatment than the rest..“I don’t know how you feel about it, but this is getting pretty old,” he said..The Bloc Québécois last week rejected a proposal to redistribute parliamentary seats based on a mathematical model calculated by Canada’s chief electoral officer reflecting populations..Based on the calculations, Quebec would go from 78 MPs to 77 while overall seats would increase by four in the House. This marks the first time since 1966 a province would lose a seat during redistribution..Melanie Risdon is a reporter with the Western Standard.,.mrisdon@westernstandardonline.com
