Bill C-20 · 41th Parliament · Stephen Harper
Fair Representation Act
An Act to amend the Constitution Act, 1867, the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act and the Canada Elections Act
Government bill. Became law.
- IntroducedOct. 27, 2011
- Debated in principleNov. 3, 2011
- Studied by a committeeDone
- Passed its first chamberDec. 13, 2011
- Passed the second chamberDec. 15, 2011
- Became lawDec. 15, 2011
Leading supporters
Ranked by the part each played: who is responsible for the bill, who carried it, and who spoke for it most.
- Stephen HarperPrime Minister
- Claude Carignan (Deputy Leader of the Government)Senate · Sponsor in the Senate
- Tom LukiwskiPraises the bill as fulfilling a commitment to fairer representation by population.
- Ted Opitzexplicitly speaks in favour and praises the bill's approach to representation.
- Joe PrestonGave the bill full support at second reading and calls it very important for fairness.
- Parm Gillexplicitly backs the bill as fulfilling election promises for fair representation
- Scott ReidExplicitly rises to speak in favour and endorses the bill's goal of representation by population.
- Harold AlbrechtExpresses support for the bill and notes it gives Quebec fair proportional seats.
Who carries this bill
Arrows run from the person responsible to those who answer to them on this bill. The critic leads the Senate’s scrutiny and answers to no one on it.
What it set out to do
On 27 October 2011, the Minister of State (Democratic Reform) introduced Bill C-20, An Act to amend the Constitution Act, 1867, the Electoral boundaries readjustment Act and the Canada Elections Act (Fair Representation Act), in the House of Commons and it was given first reading. Bill C-20 amends the Constitution Act, 1867 by readjusting the number of members of the House of Commons and the representation of the provinces therein. Under Bill C-20: • Ontario will receive an additional 15 seats • British Columbia will receive an additional 6 seats • Alberta will receive an additional 6 seats • Quebec also receives three new seats which will be proportionate to its share of the population. Bill C-20 also amends the time periods in several provisions of the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act and requires that electronic versions of maps be provided to registered parties. It also amends the Canada Elections Act to permit a returning officer to be appointed for a new term of office in certain circumstances.
Summary by the Library of Parliament.
Where members stand
That · 2011-11-03 · Passed
How it changed on the way
72% of the text as introduced was changed or removed by the time it became law (5,403 words introduced, 4,079 passed).
minor changeintent kept
The bill passed with the same core provisions on seat redistribution and procedural amendments as introduced. Minor updates were limited to adding the chapter number, assent date, and final formatting for the statutes.
- Added chapter number and assent date to title page.
After: “STATUTES OF CANADA 2011 CHAPTER 26”
- Added assent date after short title section.
After: “[Assented to 16th December, 2011]”
How precisely it is written
mostly preciseChallenging the law: HardDisputing a charge: Moderate
The bill sets fixed numbers, exact timelines and arithmetic rules for seat allocation and boundary processes. A few phrases still leave room for judgment on closeness or necessity.
Open to argument
“as close as possible to, without being below”
Uses a comparative standard rather than a fixed threshold.“if necessary”
Condition depends on an official's assessment of need.“all other assistance that may be necessary”
Open-ended duty defined by subjective judgment of what is required.“considers it to be in the public interest”
Subjective test allowing a commission to waive notice rules.
Clear-cut
“not later than 10 months after the day on which the chairman receives the copy”
Fixes a precise deadline measured in months from a defined event.“within 23 days after the date of the publication of the last advertise”
States an exact number of days for filing representations.
Discretion. The Chief Electoral Officer may extend report deadlines by up to two months total and commissions may dispense with notice when they judge it in the public interest; population estimates are prepared by authorities designated by Parliament.
Challenging the law itself. The provisions are technical formulas and timelines unlikely to engage section 3 Charter vagueness claims.
Disputing a charge under it. Most obligations are date-driven or arithmetic, but disputes could arise over whether an extension or public-interest waiver was properly exercised.
Read by a language model from the royal assent text; every quoted phrase appears in the bill. A reading of the drafting, not legal advice.
Did it work?
partly effective
The Fair Representation Act achieved its core objective of adding 30 seats (15 to Ontario, 6 each to BC and Alberta, 3 to Quebec) via the 2012 redistribution process, which was implemented for the 2015 election. However, academic analysis notes it advances but does not fully resolve representation-by-population issues and raises constitutional questions, while the formula later prompted a 2022 amendment after redistribution rejection.
- Fair Representation in the House of Commons? by Michael PalstudyThe Act takes an important step toward voter equality but makes large deviations from representation by population likely in future redistributions and its constitutionality is in doubt on federalism grounds.
- Fair Representation Act (Canada) - WikipedianewsThe 2012 redistribution under the Act added the specified seats, but the 2022 redistribution under its formula was rejected by the House, leading to further legislative changes.
- LEGISinfo - Parliament of CanadareviewBill C-20 received royal assent in 2011 with no subsequent statutory or parliamentary reviews, PBO, or Auditor General reports identified assessing its outcomes.
Who lobbied on it
No lobbying registration naming this bill is loaded.
Stages and dates from LEGISinfo.