The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) called on the Wall government today to scrap its plan to add three new provincial seats to the legislature and instead consider reducing Saskatchewan’s seat count down to 53; ‘merely’ double Alberta’s ratio of politicians to citizens.
“Saskatchewan already has the highest ratio of provincial politicians to citizens among Canadian province with more than a million people,” said CTF Prairie Director Colin Craig. “It’s true Saskatchewan’s population is growing, but that doesn’t mean the province needs more provincial politicians. If anything, it’s time to reduce the number of provincial seats.”
Current Ratio of Politicians to Citizens
| Province | Population | Current # of Politicians | Ratio of Politicians to People |
| Saskatchewan (Current) | 1,058,000 | 58 | 1:18,241 |
| Saskatchewan (Gov Proposal)* | 1,158,000 | 61 | 1:18,984 |
| Saskatchewan (CTF Proposal)* | 1,158,000 | 53 | 1:21,849 |
| Manitoba | 1,250,000 | 57 | 1:21,930 |
| Alberta** | 3,779,000 | 87 | 1:43,437 |
| British Columbia | 4,573,000 | 85 | 1:53,800 |
| Quebec | 7,980,000 | 125 | 1:63,840 |
| Ontario | 13,373,000 | 107 | 1:124,981 |
* Based on population increase of 100,000 people
** Upcoming election will include 87 constituencies
“If Saskatchewan reduced the size of its legislature by five seats, it would still have double the number of politicians to people as Alberta,” added Craig. “If anything, the size of Saskatchewan’s legislature should go down, not up.”
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