Chris Clegg
Editor, South Peace News
I like to joke that I keep a brick by my TV at home. When I don’t like something I’m watching, I joke I was lucky it was out of reach or I’d have to buy a new boob tube.

A couple weeks ago I was bored enough to watch the Parliamentary Channel – yes, I was that bored. There was Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, spewing his usual verbal diarrhea.

This time, he outdid himself, perhaps even better than his old man. The apple does not fall far from the tree.

There he was, telling Canadians that electoral reform wasn’t possible because there was no consensus.

Really! When in the hell has there even been consensus on electoral reform in this country? The only “consensus” as far as Ottawa is concerned, is if it is good for Ontario and Quebec, it’s good for Canada.

Yuck!

Then, something very, very interesting occurred on Feb. 8. The federal census was revealed. I was furious, because the highest growth rate of provinces was as follows in percentage points:

– Nunuvat at 12.7.
– Alberta at 11.6.
– Saskatchewan at 6.3.
– Manitoba at 5.8.
– Yukon Territory at 5.8.
– British Columbia at 5.6.

You don’t think for a moment that Trudeua’s verbal sewage had anything to do with the people of Western Canada not getting the representation they deserve, do you?

Nah!

You don’t think Trudeau’s continued assault on Alberta has anything to do with not being in favour of electoral reform because it isn’t good for Ontario and Quebec, do you?

Nah!

Let’s be careful! In this case, the numbers don’t tell you the entire story. If you believe in representation based on population, you can’t look at the growth rate. You must examine the actual population increases. See the chart on this page. It shows Ontario leads in increased population with Alberta second and Quebec third.

Still, Alberta is clearly being screwed out of the representation it deserves and earned with its population increase.

But, and it hurts to say this, so was Ontario!

But there was Trudeau, protecting the interests of Quebec, by not letting Ontario and Alberta have the increased representation it deserves.

Another Trudeau screw job Alberta? Yes.

Is it surprising? No!
Population Growth [2016 Canadian Census]
Province/Change
Ontario +596,673
Alberta +421,918
Quebec +261,360
British Columbia +247,998
Manitoba +70,097
Saskatchewan +64,971
Newfoundland & Labrador +5,180
Nunavut +4,308
Prince Edward Island +2,703
Yukon Territory +1,977
Nova Scotia +1,871
Northwest Territories +324
New Brunswick -2,199