Published Aug. 17, 2023 12:40 p.m. ET
The disappearance of a Quebec federal riding is being challenged in court. A sample ballot box is seen ahead of the 2019 federal election at Elections Canada’s offices in Gatineau, Que., Friday, Sept. 20, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
The planned disappearance of a federal electoral district in the Bas Saint-Laurent-Gaspésie region will be challenged in court.
A motion has just been filed in Federal Court to prevent the disappearance of the riding of Avignon-La Mitis-Matane-Matapédia and the redistribution of its territory between two other ridings, those of Gaspésie-Les-Îles-de-la-Madeleine and Rimouski-Neigette-Témiscouata-Les Basques.
The new electoral map should become official in September, with the adoption of a decree to that effect.
The group Droits collectifs Québec and Gaspesian lawyer Alexis Deschênes are the plaintiffs in this case. They are against the change because they say it weakens Quebec’s political weight.
They are asking the Federal Court to issue an order declaring the decision of the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Quebec null and void, and to issue an order maintaining the current boundaries of the electoral districts concerned. They are also asking for an order maintaining 79 seats for Quebec out of a total of 344 in Canada.
The plaintiffs base their request on the grounds that there is a need for special treatment due to the region’s geography: no freeways, rugged terrain, scattered towns and villages. These factors, they say, complicate the work of a member of parliament, who has to travel long distances.
They also argue that the population of Gaspésie has increased between 2018 and 2022.
The Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Quebec had justified its decision using a mathematical calculation, namely that the population gap in the existing electoral districts would exceed 25 per cent of the “electoral quota.”
This report was first published in French by The Canadian Press on Aug. 17, 2023.