Guiding principle

Sanity has returned to P.E.I.’s electoral map. The report submitted to the legislature Tuesday made significant changes to many of P.E.I.’s 27 ridings. Every district, except one, is within a variance of plus or minus 10 per cent of the average number of 3,700 voters.

The Electoral Boundaries Commission used common sense to restore logical boundaries for districts, after the last map artificially split communities and severed areas of interest and historical connections. The surging population in Stratford and area has been addressed with two ridings now assigned for the fast-growing town and nearby areas. The three close-knit communities of St. Peter’s Bay, Morell and Mount Stewart have been reunited in a new Morell-Donagh riding. For the past three elections, St. Peters had been severed and thrust in with Georgetown.

But redistribution also created a new issue for the Kings County capital, which is now expanding far westward to join with Pownal. It’s an unfortunate example of distorting some ridings to address the declining population of Kings County. There are now only two ridings located entirely within Kings — Souris-Elmira and Montague-Kilmuir. Large sections of three other historic Kings ridings are deep into Queens County, reflecting the flight from eastern P.E.I. to the Charlottetown area. Between 2011 and 2016 the population of Kings County dropped by 830 people to 17,160. During that period, Prince County’s population decreased by 618 to 43,730, while Queens County increased by 4,151 to 82,017. The fallout is obvious. Ridings in rural P.E.I. are getting fewer, larger in area and smaller in population. Still, the commission tried its best to accommodate Kings and West Prince although its options were limited. The commission agreed that districts should not simply become a numbers game, and made extra allowances for rural representation.

Summerside will likely will gain a third seat under the next map; while Charlottetown will probably increase to seven seats to accommodate the growing population in the suburbs of Sherwood, West Royalty and Winsloe.

Evangeline-Miscouche continues as a special case — 22 per cent below variance. The smaller district is designed to help preserve Acadian heritage and culture within this riding. The commission notes that while the MLA represents a smaller number of voters inside the riding, the member is also responsible to Acadians and Acadian issues across the province.

Representation for P.E.I.’s aboriginal peoples remains an unsolved issue, which the legislature will have to address.

The commission believes that rural districts are more difficult to represent than urban ones. Rural MLAs have to travel more and their constituents — especially those in the far ends of the province — depend on them more. Islanders living in urban centers have easier access to more resources. The commission had a guiding principle as it drew an electoral map — to provide better government for all Islanders. It did its best to respond to rural concerns while trying to make every vote equal. It was a delicate balancing act and it largely succeeded.