Before finally bringing forward legislation to rebalance the House of Commons, Stephen Harper had to overcome some pretty strong opposition from an unusual source: his own MPs.
The Fair Representation Act, unveiled on Thursday, seeks to redress the serious under-representation in the House of Commons of fast-growing urban ridings in Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta.
The bill, the Tories’ third attempt to re-jig the House, may have hit the sweet spot, with opposition parties offering grudging – and two provinces outright – support.
But before the bill could be unveiled, Mr. Harper was forced to hold a special session of caucus on Monday night to address the complaints of MPs who wanted to know why Quebec would also receive additional seats, even though its population is in relative decline.
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The PM might have solved some problems in his caucus, but a lot of his voters are not in his caucus, and are where donations come from. We will see how this plays out.