Restored ridings praised in southwestern N.S.

What is old is new again when it comes to electoral boundaries in southwestern Nova Scotia for the Aug. 17 provincial election.

Shelburne County will once again be an electoral district as it was from Confederation until 2013, when it was split into two ridings: Queens/shelburne and Barrington/argyle, as a result of the 2011 /12 electoral boundary review.

“It was a shock to all that Shelburne County had been divided in half by a misguided decision by the government of the day,” said Shelburne resident Roy O'donnell.

When the 2018 Electoral Boundaries Commission began its review process, “we lobbied hard to have the Electoral Boundary Commission hold a public meeting in Shelburne” where “the commissioners heard loud and clear we expected the boundary to be returned,” said O'donnell.

“We're happy to have it back,” said former Shelburne mayor Karen Mattatall, who was one of the presenters at the public meeting in Shelburne during the 2018/ 19 boundary review process. “Personally, I think it's wonderful government has acknowledged we should have our own riding… we're very pleased to be able to elect our own MLA for our own county.”

The constituency of Argyle was also restored and the riding of Clare/digby recreated to the ridings of Clare, and Digby/annapolis as a result of the last boundary review process.

In the region, only the riding of Yarmouth was unchanged.

The number of seats in the provincial legislature will increase to 55 from 51.

Both Argyle and Clare were among the four protected ridings eliminated in the 2012 boundary review. All four ridings, including Richmond and Preston have been restored with exceptional status.

“For the federation, it's excellent news that the boundary commission in its work felt fit to restore the ridings of Argyle, Clare as well as Richmond,” said Kenneth Deveau, president of the Fédération acadienne de la Nouvelle-écosse. “We're very happy about that it.”

By having provincial government representation Deveau said it allows for “issues that are particular to the Acadians in those regions, for their issues to be debated within the parties, at candidates debates and individually in the legislature. It's just a good way for Acadians and Francophones in Nova Scotia to have their voices heard and issues dealt with by government.”

As a result of the 2012 Electoral Boundaries Commission report, the Fédération acadienne de la Nouvelle-écosse (FANE) took legal action against the province, which ultimately led to establishment of the Commission on Effective Electoral Representation of Acadian and African Nova Scotians in April 2017 by the Nova Scotia government. The commission published its report, Representation: Toward More Effective Representation for Acadian and African Nova Scotians: Report and Recommendations in 2018.