Commission to redraw N.S. electoral map to 'provide effective representation' for Chéticamp

Jean Laroche · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 07, 2025 2:29 PM EST | Last Updated: 2 minutes ago

Nine MLAs from each 3 parties astatine Province House person a period to make a committee to redraw Nova Scotia's electoral representation successful a mode that volition "provide effectual representation" to the Acadian portion of Chéticamp.

This Electoral Boundaries Commission is being formed to comply with a ruling past November by the Nova Scotia Supreme Court that found the deficiency of a protected territory for Chéticamp to beryllium an unjustified breach of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. 

PC furniture curate Brendan Maguire is chairing the radical that includes 5 PC politicians, 3 New Democrats and a Liberal.

The radical volition besides acceptable the presumption of notation for the commission.

According to a solution introduced successful the Nova Scotia Legislature Friday, "the committee shall urge specified changes to the boundaries of the existing electoral districts arsenic are indispensable to guarantee compliance with the main mandate of the commission…and specified further presumption of notation arsenic the committee whitethorn determine."

Justice Minister Becky Druhan said she would permission it to the committee of MLAs to find the commission's presumption of notation and past up to the committee to travel that guidance.

"It volition beryllium up to the autarkic committee to marque a determination arsenic to however to champion bespeak the court's determination astir practice rights for the assemblage of Chéticamp," said Druhan. "We can't presuppose what that mightiness look like."

Map redraw affects 'everyone else'

Redrawing the representation to woody with a circumstantial contented affects different boundaries, but determination person besides been colonisation shifts since the representation was redrawn successful 2019 to make 55 seats, an summation of 4 implicit the erstwhile map.

Opposition Leader Claudia Chender of the NDP said her enactment looked guardant to seeing the presumption of notation that volition govern the commission's work, but she suggested an introspection of the full representation would beryllium valuable.

"It whitethorn good marque consciousness for the committee to see different electoral boundaries crossed the state to guarantee that everyone has effectual electoral representation," said Chender. "When you alteration 1 boundary, it changes the practice for everyone else."

Elector parity was the main origin successful determining the electoral boundaries during the enactment of the past boundaries commission.

Voter parity is the conception that each ballot carries astir the aforesaid value and that is achieved by creating electoral districts that incorporate astir the aforesaid fig of voters.

Nova Scotia has 4 alleged protected seats — Clare, Argyle, Richmond and Preston — that deviate from the norm due to the fact that of their unsocial taste oregon humanities makeup. 

Those constituencies person less than allowed voters successful bid to springiness those communities a amended accidental of being represented by either Acadian oregon Black MLAs.