## Facts

- Saskatchewan enacted the Representation Act, 1989, creating 66 provincial electoral constituencies.
- The statute allocated seats by regional “class” (urban, rural, northern) rather than strictly by population: 29 urban, 35 rural, and 2 northern seats.
- The scheme allowed significant population variances within and between these classes, producing smaller (less populous) rural constituencies relative to urban ones.
- Urban voters challenged the map, arguing their Charter right to vote was infringed because their voting power was diluted compared to rural voters.
- The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal concluded the allocation breached the Charter right to vote, while accepting special treatment for the two northern constituencies as justifiable.
- Saskatchewan appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada.

## Issues

1. Whether the constitutional right to vote requires strict voter parity (“one person, one vote”) across constituencies.
2. Whether the right to vote instead protects “effective representation,” allowing departures from population equality to account for geography and communities of interest.
3. If the scheme infringed the right to vote, whether it could be justified as a reasonable limit.

## Decision

- The Court allowed the appeal and upheld the Representation Act, 1989.
- The majority held that the right to vote guarantees effective representation, not strict mathematical equality of voting power.
- Applying that standard, the majority concluded the population deviations did not deny voters effective representation in light of Saskatchewan’s geography, dispersed populations, and distinct regional interests.
- Because no infringement was found, the Court did not need to conduct a full reasonable-limits analysis.
- In dissent, Justice Cory would have found a violation, concluding the disparities unduly diluted urban votes and that legislative constraints improperly predetermined unequal outcomes.

## Legal Principles

- The constitutional right to vote is aimed at ensuring effective representation in a representative democracy, rather than enforcing strict numerical equality across districts.
- Relative parity of voting power is important, but may yield to legitimate considerations such as geography, manageability of constituencies, and communities of interest or identity.
- Departures from population equality may be permitted to avoid marginalizing remote or minority regions and to maintain meaningful access to elected representatives.
- Whether an electoral map complies with the right to vote turns on whether citizens retain a meaningful voice through representation that is effective in their circumstances.

## Conclusion

The Court upheld Saskatchewan’s electoral boundaries, holding that the right to vote protects effective representation and permits reasonable population variances when justified by practical and representational considerations, even if strict voter parity is not achieved.


Reference re Prov. Electoral Boundaries (Sask.), [1991] 2 S.C.R. 158 (Can.)