Is Every Vote Equal? The Charter and the Right to Vote

Regina, Saskatchewan
June 6, 1991

There are two identical pies in front of you. One is divided into 5 pieces, the other into 10. Are all the pieces the same size? Which pie would you choose from?

Like a pie, Canada is also divided into pieces: ridings. Each riding consists of thousands of voters and elects a member for the House of Commons or the provincial legislature however, not every riding has the same number of voters in it. History and geography have often combined to give certain ridings more voters than others. You may live in a rural riding with 5,000 voters, and someone else may live in a city riding with 20,000 voters. In a sense, your vote carries more weight because fewer voters in your riding will elect the same number of members.

So, what's the problem?

Section 3 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees every Canadian citizen an equal right to vote. Does this mean that everyone's vote has to be equal?

Many asked themselves that question when Saskatchewan's Electoral Boundaries Commission Act proposed to change riding boundaries. The act resulted in city areas being under represented as compared to rural areas. The answer to this question would come courtesy of the Supreme Court of Canada:

• Section 3 does not guarantee equality of voting power, only the right to " effective representation." The intention of section 3 wasn't to achieve blanket voter equality. Factors like geography, community history, community interests, and minority representation may need to be taken into account to ensure that our legislative assemblies effectively represent Canadians. Beyond these factors, the dilution of one citizen's vote as compared with another's should not be allowed.
• The differences between urban and rural ridings that the Electoral Boundaries Commission Act created could be justified on the basis of geography, community interest, and population growth patterns.

That meant that section 3 of the charter had not been violated.

Democracy was alive and well in Saskatchewan!

Did you know?

In 1999, the Federal Court will be asked to decide if prisoners in penitentiaries have the right to vote.

Charter s. 3
3. Every citizen of Canada has the right to vote in an election of members of the House of Commons or of a legislative assembly and to be qualified for membership therein.

Want To Know More?

See:
Reference Re Provincial Electoral Boundaries (Saskatchewan) [1991] 2 S.C.R. 158