(Quebec) Citizens in Bonaventure will finally be able to express themselves in person on the electoral redistribution proposal which would cause the Gaspé to lose a riding.
The Electoral Representation Commission announced Friday that it was changing its mind and adding a public hearing on October 26, in New Richmond.
Three hearings were already scheduled for October 24 and 25, in Gaspé and Matane.
The CAQ MP for Bonaventure, Catherine Blouin, and the minister responsible for Gaspésie, Maïtée Blanchette Vézina, had pleaded for Bonaventure to be heard.
But “logistical considerations” prevented the commissioners from visiting the constituency in person, commission spokesperson Julie St-Arnaud Drolet explained on Friday.
She recalled that it was possible for people to express themselves in writing, by responding to a questionnaire or by sending a memorandum to the commission. Virtual hearings will also be held in November.
After refusing to agree to the request of the elected officials on October 5, the commissioners finally changed their minds on Friday. They were “sensitive” to the request, according to Mme St-Arnaud Drolet.
” It’s good news. There is nothing that justified not stopping in Bonaventure to hold a public hearing,” reacted Mme Blouin in a message sent to The Canadian Press.
“I am very happy that the commissioners came to this conclusion too and I thank them for reconsidering their decision. It actually gives a little hope for the future.
“I invite the population to mobilize and participate in the consultations in large numbers. Gaspésie has already managed to win a fight like this. […] You really have to give everything,” she added.
Gaspé-Bonaventure
The law provides for a revision of the electoral map in Quebec after two general elections, since population movements create inequalities in representation.
The revision project presented last month by the Commission on Electoral Representation notably removes a constituency in Gaspésie and one in Eastern Montreal.
On the other hand, two other constituencies would see the light of day: Marie-Lacoste-Gérin-Lajoie, in Centre-du-Québec, and Bellefeuille, in the Laurentians.
The ridings of Gaspé and Bonaventure would merge to become Gaspé-Bonaventure.
Opposing this change, the PQ deputy for Matane-Matapédia, Pascal Bérubé, argued at a press briefing that the size of the constituencies in Gaspésie would become disproportionate.
These would become impossible for an elected official to cover, he lamented.
Mr. Bérubé asks that the law be changed to add certain criteria such as natural belonging to a region and to take into account the boundaries of administrative regions.
The revision of the map is carried out so that Quebec is divided into 125 constituencies of approximately 51,000 voters which have, as much as possible, common characteristics.
Only one exception: the constituency of Îles-de-la-Madeleine, protected in law.
However, it is possible for the commission to deviate from the rule with a reasoned decision.
Voters wishing to speak during the hearings must register in advance, by going to the site www.carteelectorale.quebec.