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In Saskatchewan, the basic requirement of reasonable equality was met when the 1981 constituency map was drawn. No reason has been provided as to why it was no longer possible to achieve the degree of equality reflected in that distribution. Moreover, no explanation has been given as to why the balancing of the relevant factors could not, as it was previously, be left to the Commission rather than being mandated by the legislature. The province has failed to justify the need to shackle the Commission with the mandatory rural-urban allocation and the confinement of urban boundaries to municipal limits. The effect of these mandatory conditions was to force the Commission to recommend a distribution which departs from the higher degree of equality achieved in 1981. In the absence of a reasonable explanation as to why this was necessary, the distribution in question is suspect and there is no basis upon which to conclude that the legislature's objective in imposing the mandatory conditions was pressing and substantial.
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