Citizens urged to fight riding boundary changes
West-end politicians are encouraging citizens to fight electoral boundary changes to the MontRoyal, Outremont and D’Arcy McGee ridings — changes, opponents say, that would weaken the voice of an ethnically and linguistically diverse population of voters.
Speaking before a standing-roomonly crowd of about 300 people on March 21, Montreal city councillor Marvin Rotrand asked: “First question is, are people upset?”
In unison, the crowd called: “Yes!” Rotrand then asked, “The second question is, do they want to contest?”
“Yes!”
The meeting of citizens, politicians and community leaders was held in the municipal building located at 6767 Côte-des-Neiges Rd. The mayors and councillors of Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Damede-Grâce, Outremont, Côte StLuc, Town of Mount Royal and Hampstead came together with the public to see if citizens are interested in forming a committee that will fight back against the proposed electoral map changes.
Given the cheering, applause, shouts of support and initial cash donations, it appears there is a building movement of voters that is willing to give their time and money to the cause.
“If we don’t do it, nobody is going to do it for us,” said Côte St-Luc councillor Ruth Kovac, speaking on behalf of Mayor Mitchell Brownstein. She encouraged people to donate to the cause because, if this battle ends up in court, it will be a costly fight.
This issue first arose in 2015 when the Commission de la représentation électorale proposed to merge Mont-Royal and Outremont while significantly altering D’Arcy McGee. After extensive public consultation and public outcry against the proposal, the commission, on Feb. 7, 2017, announced that the ridings would remain unchanged.
The problem was thought to be solved, but on March 2, the commission “inexplicably published” the 2015 electoral map proposal, explained Rotrand. He added, “We go from three to two seats.”
Under the new boundary lines, Mont-Royal and Outremont ridings will be merged, but not wholly. According to the new map, the boundaries will merge parts of the Outremont borough with the Mercier riding while a section of the Mont-Royal riding would slide over to D’Arcy McGee.
Parts of D’Arcy McGee will be merged with the riding of N.D.G. All this is supposed to take shape by the Oct. 1, 2018 election.
With some rural ridings having about 30,000 voters and the new ridings having nearly 60,000, Ellie Israel said, “our votes are worth half.” Israel, a former school commissioner, was one of many in attendance representing the English Montreal School Board.
Hampstead Mayor William Steinberg noted the rural communities of Quebec are not nearly as linguistically or ethnically diverse as Montreal. The island, he added, should have 31 seats in the National Assembly (out of 125) because it accounts for a quarter of the province’s population, but “we will now have 27 seats. Fifteen per cent less than our fair share.”
Steinberg called the new boundaries “blatant discrimination against language and cultural minorities.” That is illegal under Quebec’s and Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, he said.
“A large section of the Outremont riding, east of Hutchinson St., which is largely Jewish, was put into Mercier, thus cutting the Hasidic community in half, ” Rotrand said before the meeting. Ethnic communities, he added, such as the Filipino and Bangladeshi communities, which have large voting blocks in the current Mont-Royal riding, are also cut in half.
“It’s the implication of the citizens that will make a difference,” said Côte-des-Neiges—N.D.G. Mayor Russell Copeman. “By our collective actions, I think we can influence the outcome.”
Former parliamentarian Marlene Jennings, who represented N.D.G.—Lachine for 14 years, offered to head a committee that would raise funds and legally challenge the electoral commission’s decision. When Rotrand asked if the audience supported putting her in charge of such a committee, they cheered.
The current electoral law allows for a difference of plus-or-minus 25 per cent between riding populations, but that disadvantages Montreal Island voters and needs to change, said Jennings. The island, she said, should have a minimum number of ridings and she encouraged the rest of Montreal’s mayors and councillors to join in the fight because “if it can happen to us, it can happen to them.”