Clash of Interests and Form of Settlement

The Transformation Process of Legislative Apportionment Rule at the Time of Canadian Confederation

Abstract

  This article concerns a long-term political dispute in Canada − the apportionment rule of the parliamentary seats between contemporary provinces of Ontario and Québec at the time of Confederation. During this period, Canada transformed the apportionment rule of the Lower House from one of equal distribution to distribution according to the population ratio. This was incredibly controversial because the latter would disadvantage the French politicians of Québec in terms of representation. Although previous scholars have highlighted this dispute as the main political issue of the time, they have not elucidated the actual transformation process and reason why the change was attained. In this article, I use primary historical resources for examination and clarify the process and reason why the agreement to adopt the new rule was reached. As a conclusion, I contend that the French politicians accepted the distribution of seats based on the population in return for their attainment of a “guarantee,” that is, the acquisition of a particular provincial right in the course of the Confederation debate.