electoral map

Nelson Sergerie, LJI Journalist

GASPÉ – The Superior Court is not suspending the Act adopted by Quebec that put the revision of the Quebec electoral map on hold. 

However, Judge Annie Breault of the Superior Court of the District of Terrebonne partially grants the interlocutory injunction requested by elected officials from the Laurentians, and Central Quebec, ordering the Commission de la représentation sur la carte électorale to continue its work. 

“When you look at the first reading, you would have the impression of having lost. But, honestly, the Act that stopped the revision of the electoral map remains in force. The only thing the judgment says is that the Commission de la représentation électorale can finish its report. Period. And it (the Commission) must keep its report secret and not submit it to the National Assembly,” comments the mayor of Gaspé and spokesperson for the file for the Gaspé Peninsula Table of Prefects, Daniel Côté. 

He is listed as a respondent in the request filed for the table to be an intervening party in the debate. 

The elected officials of the Laurentides and Centre-du-Québec regions have filed a legal action against the Director General of Elections of Quebec and the Attorney General of Quebec to have this law revoked and for the process of revising the electoral map to resume. 

On May 2, the National Assembly of Quebec, in a unanimous vote, adopted the Act to interrupt the process of delimiting electoral districts. 

The group of MRCs pointed out that the electoral map on the table was then highly detrimental to the principle of effective representation, directly affecting the representation of Gaspésie in the democratic institutions of Quebec. 

The group made representations before the court on November 28 to become a stakeholder in the case. 

“I assume that the decision that was rendered does not add much more. We could ultimately qualify it as a kind of first victory for our region, even if upon reading the judgment, one might think otherwise. The only victory for our counterparts in the Laurentians and Central Quebec is that the Chief Electoral Officer has the right to finish his report, but must keep it to himself,” analyzes Mr. Côté, who is also a lawyer. 

The court, therefore, allows the Chief Electoral Officer to complete his work and eventually file his second report as provided for in the electoral law if the court were to rule that the Act adopted in May to suspend the electoral law was invalid. 

“This is how we are preserving the two Gaspésie ridings, at least for now. There will be a trial on the merits of the matter and a decision will be made in the coming weeks or months. At the same time, in the National Assembly, we continue to believe that the government is doing the work promised, that is to say, to thoroughly review the electoral law. If a new version arrives somewhere in the spring, the appeal will become unfounded,” mentions the elected official from Gaspé. 

He hopes that the law will include the concept of elective representation with criteria such as geographic extent or belonging to a territory. 

“If the law provides for these elements, we could achieve our ends and end the debate,” he believes. 

The pressure is now on the Parliamentarians to resolve the matter quickly. Mr. Côté also adds that the elected officials unanimously resolved to review the electoral law. “If they agreed that the current electoral law should be reviewed, I dare to hope that they will agree on a new law quickly rather than letting the judiciary do the work of the legislator,” he says. 

“For a region like ours that already suffers from democratic underweight, it becomes one of our priorities to have a law that will respect the Gaspé reality and that will ensure us two votes in the National Assembly rather than one,” analyzes Mr. Côté. 

Could the Gaspé Peninsula or the other two regions appeal? 

“The court came to split the difference. It did not say a categorical ‘yes’ to one party and a categorical ‘no’ to another party. Our colleagues wanted the process to resume. A small part can resume. For our part, we wanted the law that suspends the overhaul of the map to remain in force. For us, it is also a bit of a victory,” says the mayor. 

Prosecutors and elected officials from the prefects’ table will be consulted to see if an appeal could be possible, but Mr. Côté doubts that the Gaspésie will go in this direction. 

Recall that the commission suggested merging the counties of Gaspé and Bonaventure, grouping the MRCs of Côte-de-Gaspé, Rocher-Percé, Bonaventure and Avignon, to create Gaspé-Bonaventure, while Haute-Gaspésie would be transferred to the riding of Matane-Matapédia, a Lower St. Lawrence riding. 

As of April 30, 2023, Bonaventure had 35,898 voters and Gaspé had 30,131, far from the minimum threshold planned. The gap was -29.2% and -40.6% respectively. Gaspé was ranked third among the least populous ridings, behind the Magdalen Islands, which has an exceptional status, and Ungava. 

According to projections of the number of voters based on data from the Institut de la statistique du Québec, the gap with respect to the average for Gaspé should soon surpass that of Ungava. 

In 2017, the commission maintained the negative exceptional status for Gaspé and granted the same status to Bonaventure. However, since the inequalities in representation of these ridings are increasing, the Commission did not wish to renew this status. 

In addition to removing a riding in the Gaspésie, the Commission suggested doing the same thing in Montreal, while creating a riding in the Laurentians and another in Central Quebec.