HOW NOT TO REFORM THE ELECTORAL MAP

The process of redrawing Quebec’s electoral boundaries has, perhaps predictably, turned into a mess.

There are several problems with the new riding map put forward last week by the Commission de la représentation électorale du Québec in preparation for the 2018 election, most notably that it runs roughshod over the representation of several minority communities in the National Assembly.

Among the groups who say their members are being split into different zones or merged into larger ridings that will dilute their political clout are the anglophone, Greek, Jewish, Hassidic and Filipino communities. And this after they contested earlier versions of the reform and were left with the impression they had prevailed.

But it seems the revision was hamstrung from the outset by the fact the CRE only gave itself two bad options to choose from.

Plan A — and the final version as it turns out — merges the ridings of Outremont and Mont-Royal into one, but divides the Hassidic community along Hutchison St., putting those on the east side into Mercier. The D’Arcy-McGee district, which now encompasses Côte-SaintLuc, Hampstead and a piece of Côte-des-Neiges west of Décarie Blvd., is being stretched eastward. And a chunk of Laval’s Chomedey riding, home to members of the Greek community, is being transferred to neighbouring Fabre.

Plan B, was also problematic. It proposed chopping WestmountSt.-Louis in half, joining the western half with Notre-Damede-Grâce riding and putting the eastern part in a new entity that was to be called Ville-Marie. That new riding would have been created from the remnants of Sainte-Marie-Saint-Jacques.

But current MNA Manon Massé of Québec solidaire led a successful campaign to save it, charging the plan would have dispersed her vulnerable downtown constituency among more affluent residents and undermined the importance of the gay vote in the Village. Instead of going back to the drawing board when it scrapped that plan on the merits of Massé’s arguments, the CRE reverted to its original proposal.

There are always winners and losers when it comes to the periodic tweaking of Quebec’s electoral map, a fraught exercise that, by its very nature, pits competing interests against each other in search of an elusive equilibrium. But something does seem to be seriously amiss.

First of all, the starting premise of the revision was that Montreal would lose one of its 28 ridings as the CRE sought to maintain 125 seats in the National Assembly and create two new districts in the Laurentians and the Lanaudière where the population has exploded. But why?

The CRE’s reasoning is that Montreal’s population has risen at a slower rate than that of the new exurbs — formerly outlying regions that are rapidly transforming into bedroom communities. That maybe true, but the latest census data shows that Montreal is growing too, increasing 3.3 per cent from 2011, as compared to 4.2 per cent for the region as a whole. But the growth that necessitates the creation of two new ridings is tied to the strength of the city. Therefore diminishing Montreal’s representation in the legislature, where significant decisions about the economy, infrastructure, the environment and transportation is ill-conceived and counterproductive. It seems that Montreal’s status is being sacrificed to avoid having to lose another rural riding. One in the Mauricie is being eliminated through this effort, but apparently two was unthinkable, even if demographically it would make more sense.

Another major flaw is that the Montreal-area ridings that are subject to changes are not the parts of the island that are seeing the most dramatic population declines. Municipalities in the West Island, like Beaconsfield and Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, saw some of the most significant drops in the country, according to the 2016 census, yet changes to their boundaries aren’t being considered. Meanwhile, the west-end ridings are being targeted — most notably Montreal, Westmount, Côte-St-Luc and Hampstead — are among the top 10 most densely packed areas in Canada (although Hampstead did see its overall population drop by 2.5 per cent between 2011 and 2016).

A spokesperson for the CRE says it gets the data on which its decisions are based from various sources and focuses on the number of eligible voters in ridings, not necessarily general population trends. But it’s hard to imagine there is a serious discrepancy between the two.

The ridings under review also happen to be among the most diverse in Quebec. The guiding principles of determining electoral district are supposed to be effective representation, equality of electors, natural communities. But the CRE’s decisions ignore the sanctity of these “natural communities” and their weight in the electoral process by slicing and dicing D’Arcy McGee, Chomedey, Mont-Royal and Outremont. Perhaps this lack of sensitivity for the concerns of minorities wouldn’t be as apparent if the membership of the three-member CRE itself were more diverse.

The whole point of adjusting the electoral map is to bolster faith in democracy and ensure that all voters have a voice. This latest effort seems to have missed the mark.