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Electoral Reform Causes

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Cause - The Call for Electoral Reform: Even prior to both the referendum and the scandal, many had openly voiced frustration with the structure of the federal government and how much influence Quebec was able to wield in its affairs. While the Senate is supposed to represent the interests of each province within Parliament to a greater extent than in the House of Commons, over the previous decades it has done little but draw the ire of Westerners. The two most populous Western provinces, British Columbia and Alberta, have 607,543 and 733,343 citizens per senator, while Quebec and Ontario have 329,292 and 535,493 respectively. And, the average number of citizens per riding in B.C. and Alberta, at 124,443 and 132,285, is higher than the national …show more content…
However, following the election of the Harper Conservatives, this relationship shifted drastically. The Conservatives’ policies were clearly influenced by their predecessor, the Reform Party, and the the far-right ideology it promoted. While Westerners tend to be in favour of the Conservatives’ laxer gun laws, harsher criminal sentencing, greater provincial autonomy, and looser environmental regulations to promote growth in the oil sands, many in the rest of Canada are sharply divided on the issue. As evidenced in the 2011 election the top two parties with the most seats in the House of Commons were the far-right Conservatives, and the far-left NDP, with the centrist Liberals getting decimated at the …show more content…
The proposed pipeline would send thousands of barrels of oil from the West towards oil refineries in New Brunswick, providing much needed relief to the Western provinces. However, while the majority of Canadians support the pipeline and economic benefits it would bring, two thirds of Quebecois are against it. As a result, the mayor of Montreal, Denis Coderre, rejected the pipeline, claiming that it was not in Montreal’s interests to allow the pipeline and any environmental damage it might result in. Consequently, numerous politicians from across the prairies were furious at the decision, with Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall voicing frustration over how Quebec receives billions in equalization payments funded by oil revenue, but refuses to help grow the industry. And, when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that he would not force Montreal to approve the project, even though estimates claim it would generate 55 billion for Albertan GDP, it only served to further alienate Western Canadians from the rest of the

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