Citizens to fight electoral boundary changes
New ridings will diminish voter influence across city, group says
A west-end citizens’ committee has been formed and a lawyer hired to fight electoral boundary changes to the Mont-Royal, Outremont and D’Arcy-McGee ridings — changes that opponents say will dilute voter influence not only in the west end, but across the entire city of Montreal.
“Our votes were diluted at the last electoral redistribution back in the early ’90s when the electoral commission at that time reduced the ridings on the island of Montreal by four,” said former Liberal MP Marlene Jennings during a Friday morning press conference held in the Côte-des-Neiges— Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough office.
“Our votes were diluted then and now, with this new decision to reduce three ridings to two ridings, our votes are being diluted even more.”
This decision by Quebec’s electoral commission reduces Montreal’s representation in Quebec City from 28 to 27 members of the National Assembly, Jennings explained. Montreal, she argued, should have “special status” with no fewer than 31 MNAs. There must be effective, undiluted representation under the law, she said, expressing specific concern for Montreal’s English-speaking community.
While the citizens’ committee isn’t publicly disclosing its legal strategy at this point, the law firm Grey Casgrain has been hired and Julius Grey, a well-known constitutionalist, is on the case.
Montreal city councillor Marvin Rotrand said Grey will file a contestation by the end of May, but before the case gets to court, the citizens’ committee has officially launched a fundraising campaign to cover legal fees and municipalities are dedicating public funds to the cause.
As it stands, the Town of Mount Royal will match every dollar its citizens contribute up to $10,000. Hampstead mayor Bill Steinberg said his town has contributed about $7,000, one dollar per citizen. Elected officials in the borough of Côte-des-Neiges —N.D.G. are debating the matter, according to Rotrand, and Mayor Mitchell Brownstein said Côte-St-Luc’s city council is looking at how best to contribute public funds to the cause.
“The city of Côte-St-Luc is very strongly behind the legal contestation and we will be supporting financially,” said Brownstein during the news conference. “We will be encouraging our citizens to support financially.”
The committee is co-chaired by Jennings and Beryl Wajsman, editor of The Suburban newspaper. The committee also includes former Mount-Royal MP Irwin Cotler, former MNA Lawrence Bergman and Patrick Gagnon, former MP for Bonaventure -Îlesde-la-Madeleine.
Bergman, who represented the D’Arcy-McGee riding for two decades, accused the electoral commission of “blatantly disregarding” federal and provincial charters. “Ineffective representation makes for unequal rights for the citizens of Quebec,” he said.
At issue is the boundary line shift that was announced on Feb. 7 despite more than two years of voiced opposition from the community.
Mont-Royal and Outremont ridings will be merged, but not wholly, for Quebec’s next general election, scheduled for Oct. 1, 2018.
According to the new map, the boundaries will move a small part of the Outremont borough into the Mercier riding, while a section of the Mont-Royal and Outremont ridings in Côte-des-Neiges would slide over to D’Arcy-McGee. Part of D’Arcy-McGee south of Côte-St-Luc Rd. will be merged with the riding of N.D.G.
With about 60,000 people in the new ridings compared with the 48,952 provincial average, opponents such as former English Montreal School Board commissioner Ellie Israel, who now sits on the citizens’ committee, say these changes cut the worth of local votes.
Five municipalities affected by this electoral boundary change have all passed motions of opposition.
Within those districts, Rotrand said, are the Jewish, Bangladeshi and Filipino communities that are all being divided by this boundary change.
Jennings noted 90 per cent of Quebec’s English-speaking minority is on the island and the decision divides a portion of that community while removing a key seat in the National Assembly. More clout, Steinberg said, is instead given to rural communities that have populations vastly different from Montreal’s when it comes to race, religion and language.
“Our effective representation is reduced, natural communities are cut in half, and, as well, minority communities, linguistic and ethnic, are negatively impacted,” said Rotrand.
Now with a law firm hired, Rotrand said “this contestation will take money.”
In response to his social media posts, Wajsman said $8,000 in private commitments have been made and, in the few days since the law firm has been selected, $1,500 has already come in.
However, Wajsman said more private contributions are needed as the citizens’ committee takes this fight to court.
Those who wish to contribute can send cheques, made out to “Julius Grey in Trust” to this address: Save Mont-Royal/Outremont, 7575 Trans-Canada suite 105, Ville St-Laurent, Quebec, H4T 1V6.
Town of Mount Royal residents can send cheques made out to “Julius Grey in Trust” to this address: Mayor Philippe Roy, 90 Roosevelt Ave., Mont-Royal, QC H3R 1Z5.