A win for voter

The rules for drawing electoral boundaries should never be set by the party in power.

That’s essentially what happened in late 2011, when the NDP government wrongly — and without proper consultation — used its majority to hurriedly strip the independent electoral boundaries commission of its ability to recommend exceptional ridings.

The NDP dictated that riding populations could vary by no more than 25 per cent, regardless of other factors.

The result was that four ridings, three with significant numbers of Acadians and one with a high representation of African Nova Scotians — which had previously been granted a greater variance in population size than the standard 25 per cent rule — lost their status and disappeared in the commission’s 2012 final report, which recommended dropping to 51 ridings provincewide.

Provincial elections since then have used 51 ridings.

A year ago, Nova Scotia’s top court ruled the NDP’S forced changes were unconstitutional, contravening both the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and a 1991 Supreme Court of Canada decision guaranteeing “effective representation.” That decision stated voter parity based on population was not the only factor in setting boundaries, as minority representation, community interests and geography must also be considered.

This week, a comprehensive — and eminently sensible — report by the Liberal-appointed commission on effective electoral representation of Acadian and African Nova Scotians recommended restoring the independent electoral boundaries commission’s ability to call for exceptional ridings in compelling circumstances.

Just as importantly, the report called on government to enact legis-