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TORONTO — Ontario will get 13 more seats in the House of Commons as part of a seat redistribution plan by the federal Conservative government, Ontario officials said Tuesday. The seats will bring Ontario’s total to 119 in a 334-seat House of Commons. Yet political experts still called the new plan a partial loss for Canada’s most populous province. Previous legislation contemplated by the federal Conservatives this year would have given Ontario 18 additional seats, or 124 in total. “It seems to back off a little bit,” said Matthew Mendelsohn, director of the University of Toronto’s Mowat Centre for Policy Innovation. “Ontario, B.C. and Alberta ridings will be a little larger this time than they were anticipated to be under (Bill) C-12.” Mendelsohn said while the latest plan is less aggressive than the original, it is “still moving (the three fast-growing Canadian provinces) closer to rep-by-pop than the status quo.” The changes leaked Tuesday reportedly include six additional seats for Alberta, which will rise to 34 in the House of Commons, five more for B.C., which jumps to 41,longchamp outlet and two for Quebec, which will move to 77 seats. Federal officials wouldn’t comment Tuesday, saying the legislation hasn’t yet been introduced in the Commons. “When the bill is tabled, that’s when we’ll have the discussion,” said Andrew MacDougall, associate director of communications to Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Harper said last week the government spelled out in the Conservative Party platform its commitment to increase representation in the House of Commons to reflect the growth of Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta. He also pledged to prevent a decrease in seats in smaller provinces, while ensuring protection for proportional representation in Quebec. “Those are our three commitments, and we intend to bring forward legislation that respects those commitments,” Harper said last Friday. Canada’s democracy is based on the principle of representation by population, or the fact that all citizens should have an equal say in parliament. The principle is tempered in Canada by concessions for small regions and minority communities. Under the current makeup of parliament, O
