B.C. Conservative Leader John Cummins has spoken out against federal NDP leadership candidate and provincial NDP election co-chair Brian Topp's plan to give more seats to Quebec in the House of Commons.
"Mr. Topp has suggested Quebec should get extra seats in the House of Commons because in his view the province is somehow special. B.C. is underrepresented in the House of Commons, not Quebec. By giving Quebec more seats in the House, as the NDP would have us do, this problem is exacerbated."
As a Member of Parliament for Delta-Richmond East, and now as the leader of the B.C. Conservatives, Cummins has stood up for fair representation. He said the question before the B.C. NDP is, will their party do the same?
"Adrian Dix's election campaign co-chair believes B.C. should be underrepresented in the House of Commons. Given Mr. Dix's silence on this matter, we assume that he agrees with his co-chair. What about NDP MLAs John Horgan, Dawn Black and Michelle Mungall who have endorsed Mr. Topp as national leader?"
Cummins noted that Premier Christy Clark's Liberal government has failed to take the lead on this issue.
"Simply calling on Adrian Dix to lobby NDP Members of Parliament on this issue is a cop out. Premier Clark is a lifelong federal Liberal - she should be demanding Bob Rae and her Liberal friends stand up for British Columbia.
"The B.C. Conservatives are the only party to unequivocally support B.C. getting its fair share of seats in the House of Commons, with no special deals for any province."
