BY ALAN HOLMAN
'THE MEDDLER'
GUARDIAN COLUMNIST
When it comes to their legislators, Islanders are penny-wise and pound foolish. They are cheap when they should be more open-handed.
Too many Islanders accept the shop-worn shibboleth that we are over-governed because we have a legislature of 27 MLAs for a mere 150,000 people.
This criticism is often levelled at us by people from Ontario, where they not only have a 107-seat legislature, but regional, county, city, town, village and township levels of government. Plus 76 elected Catholic and public school districts. That’s lot more levels of government than The Island has.
But, our little legislature, plus two city councils, a smattering of town councils, some community councils and two school districts somehow makes us over-governed. Don’t believe it, it’s a load of manure.
Recently, at the behest of the legislature, the electoral boundaries commission has gone about the province peddling a map outlining what the mandated 18 electoral districts would look like if the province adopted a mixed-member proportional representation (PR) electoral system. Another nine MLAs would be chosen from party lists.
With most of the population living between the cities of Charlottetown and Summerside, the first thing one notices about the proposed map is that there are only four districts east of Charlottetown, instead of six on the present electoral map, and only four districts west of Summerside, instead of five. Which of course, buttresses the argument that the country folk are losing out.
A cynic might suggest the premier opted for only 18 districts as a poison-pill to help kill off the growing appreciation of the mixed-member proportional system.
It should not come as a shock to anyone that most of the people presently elected under the First-Past-the-Post system, want to keep it. It’s worked for them, so why change it. Don’t expect Liberal or Tory MLAs to campaign for PR. They, and their parties, prefer the status quo. Only the Greens and the NDP favour proportional representation.
The mandated18 districts, divided into the Island’s 100,000 voters resulted in each district having about 5,500 voters.
But, why just 27 MLAs? Why not 30 or 32 MLAs, with 22 chosen from electoral districts and 10 MLAs chosen from party lists? With 22 districts, there would be 4,500 voters in each, making for a more even distribution.
more than 100 years, from 1893 until 1996, there were 30 or more MLAs in the legislature. In those years there were considerably fewer people living on the Island. From 1893 there were 30 MLAs, but, because of its increasing size an additional district was added in Charlottetown, so from 1966 until 1996 there were 32 MLAs.
Many people who argue for a small legislature, also want a smaller cabinet. But most who make these arguments don’t understand the nuance of governance, nor do they understand that being part of a federation, cabinet ministers must meet their counter-parts in federal-provincial, as well as inter-provincial, meetings.
A larger legislature would mean a greater choice for cabinet, which might mean better government. The main argument for the small legislature is the money being saved.
If the Island returned to a 30-seat legislature that would mean an additional three MLAs. With salaries of approximately $70,000 each, the total extra cost would be about $200,000. That’s not chicken feed, but, the budget for the P.E.I. government is almost $2 billion. Adding three MLAs to the legislature would result in a .0001 per cent increase in the total government budget. That’ll hardly drive the province into bankruptcy.
The size of the House of Commons keeps growing because Canada’s population keeps increasing. The Island has more people now than during the last century, but it has a smaller legislature. That doesn’t make sense. Islanders are being too cheap for their own good.
If they want a better government, Islanders should elect more, and better, MLAs. A good cabinet begins with good legislators.
- Alan Holman is a freelance journalist living in Charlottetown. He can be reached at: [email protected]
