Restoring rights to the voters

It has taken a lot of time to begin unwinding the unconstitutional actions by the Dexter government in 2011-12 to bully an independent Electoral Boundaries Commission and dictate the elimination of protected Acadian ridings.

But legislation introduced by the Mcneil government last week does finally set the stage for future boundaries commissions to fairly draw up constituency boundaries – without improper interference from the government of the day and with due regard to the constitutional rights of minorities and communities to have effective representation in the legislature.

Bill 99 sets new rules on the makeup of boundaries commissions and what they must consider when redrawing MLA ridings to reflect demographic changes.

The commissions, appointed periodically to hold hearings and advise the House on new boundaries, will now have to be “broadly representative of the population.” They must include at least one person representing the Acadian community and at least one representing African Nova Scotians. Current or former MLAS may not be members, nor may members of Parliament – a good check against any appearance of partisanship or conflict.

New terms of reference will address improper government med- dling. In 2011, the NDP government used a legislature committee to set commission terms of reference that doomed Acadian ridings. The government denied this, but as the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal put it bluntly in a decision last year, “It was the Select Committee who decided that the protected Acadian ridings should vanish.” The court ruled this violated a Charter right, confirmed by the Supreme Court of Canada, to “effective representation.”

Bill 99 now explicitly recognizes a right to effective representation. Essentially, this means starting with the principle of voter parity (having similar numbers of voters in each riding), but also considering balancing factors like minority representation and community interests.

The bill defines parity as creating ridings in which the number of voters varies by no more than 25 per cent above or below the average, a standard used throughout Canada.

But commissions would be permitted to exempt ridings from the parity rule if there were “exceptional circumstances” justified by geography, local political boundaries or “historical, cultural or linguistic settlement patterns.”

This would allow a new commission, to be named this spring, to consider reinstating the Acadian ridings of Clare, Argyle and Richmond – finally conforming to the appeal court decision – and to preserve the Preston riding for effective African Nova Scotian representation.

The bill also allows for non-contiguous ridings. That’s an entirely new concept, but one that might be useful in effectively representing minorities or communities of interest. The key, surely, would be ensuring that the affected voters clearly agreed to this unconventional type of riding.

So Bill 99 creates the means for righting a past wrong and strengthens the independence of boundary commissions to make impartial judgments. Rightly, it adopts the spirit of the appeal court’s warning that voter rights are not favours bestowed by politicians and riding boundaries are not “the playground of majority governments.”

“Bill 99 now explicitly recognizes a right to effective representation. Essentially, this means starting with the principle of voter parity (having similar numbers of voters in each riding), but also considering balancing factors like minority representation and community interests.”