Malpeque, Egmont see electoral boundary changes

In the next federal election, some P.E.I. voters will be voting in a different riding.

New federal electoral ridings in P.E.I. came into effect on April 23.

Across Canada, the number of ridings – and by extension Members of Parliament in Ottawa – has now grown from 338 to 343.

The most significant impacts for voters in this province will be felt in Malpeque and Egmont.

Egmont will see its borders expand eastward, encompassing some communities from the Malpeque riding, including Travellers Rest, North Bedeque, Bedeque, Chelton and Fernwood.

Malpeque, which has seen a growing population in communities like Cornwall, will expand slightly eastward into the riding of Cardigan to include Frenchfort and Grand Tracadie.

Aside from these communities, the rest of the Cardigan riding will remain the same.

Similarly, the Charlottetown riding will remain largely the same. The district will consume a small stretch of farmland, as well as Jewell’s Country Market, which had been located in Malpeque north of St. Peters Road between the East Royalty Road and Route 25.

The boundaries have been changed to provide relatively equal representation based on population growth.

It remains to be seen what effect the changes in electoral boundaries will have on the results of future federal elections in P.E.I. A federal election is expected sometime before October 2025. The governing Liberals of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau currently have an agreement with the New Democratic Party of Jagmeet Singh that would see their co-operation in confidence motions. If the NDP were to break this agreement, an election would be held sooner.

While a general election called anytime after April 23 will be held with the next boundaries, any byelection that were to occur before a federal election would be held within the old boundaries.

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The changes in federal ridings will have no impact on P.E.I.’s provincial electoral boundaries, which are set by Elections P.E.I.

CONTRIBUTED The boundaries of the federal district of Egmont have moved eastward as of April 23, 2023. The old boundaries are represented by the thin dark line while the new boundaries are represented by the thicker, green line. The district now includes Bedeque, North Bedeque and Travellers Rest.