in 1867, at the time of Confederation. Quebec has had 24 seats since 1867. The region covers the entire province. Quebec is unique in each of its 24 senatorial designations are set out in the Constitution Act of 1867 and defined in the Consolidated Statutes of Canada 1859. These divisions are the same as those that Canada East held in the Legislative Council of Canada prior to Canadian confederation. The stated purpose of retaining the Senate divisions within Quebec is to protect the interests of religious and linguistic minorities inside the province. Quebec senators must own property in their represented divisions. An exception to the requirement for Quebec senators to represent a specific division occurs when the Prime Minister directly advises the Sovereign to temporarily expand the Senate under the Regional Expansion Clause in Section 26 of the British North America Act. This clause can be used to increase the Senate seats by 1 or 2 senators for each region, including Quebec. Prime Minister Brian Mulroney is to date the only one to successfully exercise this clause, on September 27, 1990. Under the clause, Senators Normand Grimard and Thérèse Lavoie-Roux represented self-designated divisions within Quebec following their appointments to the Senate. Senators appointed under Section 26 may name a senatorial designation of their own choosing in the same manner as a Senator from the other nine provinces and any such self-designation carries similar status. Quebec's Senate divisions have not changed since Confederation and remain based on the province's 1867 boundaries. Although the territory of the Province of Quebec has expanded northward twice (in 1898 and 1912) the division boundaries were never changed to accommodate the boundary changes, thus leaving Northern Quebec unrepresented in the Senate. At the time, this was a relatively uncontroversial anomaly because the additional territory was primarily populated by First Nations peoples, who did not gain the right to vote until the 1960s. Note: *Narcisse-Fortunat Belleau declined appointment to the Senate and Stadacona Senate division. Ten senators have served out terms in Stadacona. See List of Quebec senators Ontario regional division The Ontario regional division was created at the time of Confederation in 1867. The region covers the entire province and has not had any changes in seat numbers since 1867. Ontario has been the most populous province and region in Canada since the birth of the country in 1867. The province has expanded its boundaries twice,