A million points for the winner!
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Liberal MPs join McGuinty in seat debate
Julie Smyth, National Post
Published: Thursday, November 22, 2007
OTTAWA - A feud between the federal Conservatives and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty widened yesterday as Liberal MPs joined the attack in a battle over Ontario's share of seats in the House of Commons.
The Conservatives reintroduced a bill last week that would add 22 new MPs to the House, to address the growing population in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario. Mr. McGuinty says the added seats still leave Ontario shortchanged and he has been lobbying Ottawa for more.
Yesterday, Stephane Dion, the federal Liberal leader, opened Question Period with claims the government "continues insulting the partners of this federation," and called on Peter Van Loan, the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, to apologize after he referred to Mr. McGuinty as the "small man of Confederation."
Mr. Van Loan, an Ontario MP who has been trading comments with Mr. McGuinty since last week, said on Tuesday: "Dalton McGuinty seems to be abandoning the traditional role of an Ontario Premier, which would balance seeing Ontario's interests protected while at the same time advancing the strength of Confederation ... He seems to prefer to become the small man of Confederation."
Mr. Van Loan defended his remarks in the House yesterday: "It is a provision that was going to give them more new seats than any other province and what did he do? He complained about it. That is what I mean when I talk about the small man of Confederation. He gets more seats, more for his province and he complains."
The bill gives Ontario an extra 10 MPs, B.C. an extra seven and Alberta an extra five by 2011. Under the existing formula, Ontario would get just four extra MPs. However, Mr. McGuinty says the formula provides Ontario with an MP for every 115,000 people while Quebec currently sets the standard for large provinces with one MP for every 105,000 people. B.C. and Alberta would have one MP for every 105,000 residents under the proposed changes. "There's no way to justify that," Mr. McGuinty said. "I'm not looking for any special treatment, I'm just looking for the same treatment." He says Ontario should get 21 new MPs, almost double the number allotted by the Conservatives.
Mr. McGuinty has written to all Ontario MPs for support and recruited Mr. Dion to help fight the Conservatives -- the two had a private telephone conversation on Tuesday night. One Liberal said: "Suffice to say Mr. Dion and Mr. McGuinty are on the same page when it comes to Harper screwing over Ontario and pretty much the entire country."
Critics suggest the government is unwilling to give Ontario more seats as the Conservatives do not want to upset Quebec voters and because the Tory party is not strong in Ontario. The Conservative plan would also increase relative voting power in the West, where the Tories are strong.
Mr. Van Loan told the National Post giving Ontario more seats would result in the smaller provinces losing out: "There is a balance that has to be struck between ensuring that smaller provinces have fair levels of representation and the principle of representation by population."
He said if the formula was a pure representation by population, "you would end up with Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Saskatchewan and Manitoba losing seats and having their absolute number of seats drop."
He added: "We have proposed a formula that improves Ontario's representation in the House of Commons. For some reason the Premier of Ontario has decided to make his great crusade a fight against a bill that treats Ontario better than the existing law." Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe said yesterday he does not support Mr. McGuinty's bid for more seats but does not support the government bill either. The NDP wants more committee discussion on the issue but did not say how it will vote.
Nov. 14
Van Loan "Canadians across the country deserve to have fairness in representation ... Our legislation will go a long way toward ensuring that each province is represented fairly in the House of Commons."
McGuinty "As time goes by, Ontarians would become increasingly under-represented with each new readjustment following a census."
Nov. 15
Van Loan "It is clear that Dalton McGuinty doesn't even understand either the problem or the solution ... Dalton McGuinty's comments must be seen as a purely partisan effort where, once again, he says one thing and does another.''
Nov. 20
McGuinty "So [Harper is] fixing the problem for Alberta, he's fixing it for B.C., but he's only taking half-measures with respect to fixing it for Ontario." Van Loan "[McGuinty] seems to prefer to become the small man of Confederation, focusing only on taking partisan shots while not concerned about the strength of Canada as a whole."
Nov. 21
McGuinty "Why is it whenever we Ontarians stand up for ourselves we're accused of being un-Canadian ... That dog won't hunt.We won't be bullied or cowed into submission.We're talking here about an issue of fundamental fairness." Dion "Premier McGuinty is taking his job seriously, and representing the people of Ontario ... The ridiculous comments made by Minister Van Loan are contemptible at best, and disrespectful of the office that Mr. McGuinty was recently reelected to hold."
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Liberal MPs join McGuinty in seat debate
Julie Smyth, National Post
Published: Thursday, November 22, 2007
OTTAWA - A feud between the federal Conservatives and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty widened yesterday as Liberal MPs joined the attack in a battle over Ontario's share of seats in the House of Commons.
The Conservatives reintroduced a bill last week that would add 22 new MPs to the House, to address the growing population in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario. Mr. McGuinty says the added seats still leave Ontario shortchanged and he has been lobbying Ottawa for more.
Yesterday, Stephane Dion, the federal Liberal leader, opened Question Period with claims the government "continues insulting the partners of this federation," and called on Peter Van Loan, the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, to apologize after he referred to Mr. McGuinty as the "small man of Confederation."
Mr. Van Loan, an Ontario MP who has been trading comments with Mr. McGuinty since last week, said on Tuesday: "Dalton McGuinty seems to be abandoning the traditional role of an Ontario Premier, which would balance seeing Ontario's interests protected while at the same time advancing the strength of Confederation ... He seems to prefer to become the small man of Confederation."
Mr. Van Loan defended his remarks in the House yesterday: "It is a provision that was going to give them more new seats than any other province and what did he do? He complained about it. That is what I mean when I talk about the small man of Confederation. He gets more seats, more for his province and he complains."
The bill gives Ontario an extra 10 MPs, B.C. an extra seven and Alberta an extra five by 2011. Under the existing formula, Ontario would get just four extra MPs. However, Mr. McGuinty says the formula provides Ontario with an MP for every 115,000 people while Quebec currently sets the standard for large provinces with one MP for every 105,000 people. B.C. and Alberta would have one MP for every 105,000 residents under the proposed changes. "There's no way to justify that," Mr. McGuinty said. "I'm not looking for any special treatment, I'm just looking for the same treatment." He says Ontario should get 21 new MPs, almost double the number allotted by the Conservatives.
Mr. McGuinty has written to all Ontario MPs for support and recruited Mr. Dion to help fight the Conservatives -- the two had a private telephone conversation on Tuesday night. One Liberal said: "Suffice to say Mr. Dion and Mr. McGuinty are on the same page when it comes to Harper screwing over Ontario and pretty much the entire country."
Critics suggest the government is unwilling to give Ontario more seats as the Conservatives do not want to upset Quebec voters and because the Tory party is not strong in Ontario. The Conservative plan would also increase relative voting power in the West, where the Tories are strong.
Mr. Van Loan told the National Post giving Ontario more seats would result in the smaller provinces losing out: "There is a balance that has to be struck between ensuring that smaller provinces have fair levels of representation and the principle of representation by population."
He said if the formula was a pure representation by population, "you would end up with Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Saskatchewan and Manitoba losing seats and having their absolute number of seats drop."
He added: "We have proposed a formula that improves Ontario's representation in the House of Commons. For some reason the Premier of Ontario has decided to make his great crusade a fight against a bill that treats Ontario better than the existing law." Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe said yesterday he does not support Mr. McGuinty's bid for more seats but does not support the government bill either. The NDP wants more committee discussion on the issue but did not say how it will vote.
Nov. 14
Van Loan "Canadians across the country deserve to have fairness in representation ... Our legislation will go a long way toward ensuring that each province is represented fairly in the House of Commons."
McGuinty "As time goes by, Ontarians would become increasingly under-represented with each new readjustment following a census."
Nov. 15
Van Loan "It is clear that Dalton McGuinty doesn't even understand either the problem or the solution ... Dalton McGuinty's comments must be seen as a purely partisan effort where, once again, he says one thing and does another.''
Nov. 20
McGuinty "So [Harper is] fixing the problem for Alberta, he's fixing it for B.C., but he's only taking half-measures with respect to fixing it for Ontario." Van Loan "[McGuinty] seems to prefer to become the small man of Confederation, focusing only on taking partisan shots while not concerned about the strength of Canada as a whole."
Nov. 21
McGuinty "Why is it whenever we Ontarians stand up for ourselves we're accused of being un-Canadian ... That dog won't hunt.We won't be bullied or cowed into submission.We're talking here about an issue of fundamental fairness." Dion "Premier McGuinty is taking his job seriously, and representing the people of Ontario ... The ridiculous comments made by Minister Van Loan are contemptible at best, and disrespectful of the office that Mr. McGuinty was recently reelected to hold."
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