The Coalition Avenir Québec government and the province’s opposition parties are suspending a review of the electoral map, six months after a controversial report recommended abolishing two ridings.
Alongside members of the opposition parties, Quebec Minister for Democratic Institutions Jean-François Roberge said at a news conference Thursday that there was unanimous agreement to put the review on hold, after consulting with the electoral representation commission and hearing voters’ concerns.
“It’s an exceptional but necessary measure,” Roberge said.
But late Thursday, the commission responded, saying its three members were “concerned” by the move. A news release said that from the commissioners’ point of view, the review of the ridings map must be carried out by an independent and impartial body.
“Halting the process could compromise the fair and equitable representation of voters in the next election,” the statement said.
Every two provincial elections, the electoral representation commission is required by the Quebec’s Election Act to review the ridings map and take into account the changing demographics.
Its September 2023 preliminary report caused a stir by suggesting eliminating one riding in Montreal and another in Gaspé. It also recommended creating two new ridings: one in the central Quebec region (Marie-Lacoste-Gérin-Lajoie) and one in the Laurentians-Lanaudière region (Bellefeuille), which has seen the largest increase in Quebec voters since the 2017 electoral map was produced.
The bill to put the process on hold entails two phases: suspending the review and opening a discussion on the criteria for electoral representation, Roberge said.
Once the bill is adopted, the electoral map used for the 2022 election would apply to the 2026 provincial election, which would give members of the National Assembly time to review the criteria to the benefit of all Quebecers, said Quebec Liberal MNA Monsef Derraji, the Official Opposition critic for democratic institutions.
Derraji said the review process and consultations showed the “limits of the current Election Act,” which has not been revised for about 35 years.
Quebec is re-working its electoral map to reflect demographic shifts. But, how do politicians feel about the most recent proposal?
Parti Québécois MNA for Matane-Matapédia Pascal Bérubé said the non-partisan bill initiated by the Liberals would allow the Gaspé region to preserve its “democratic weight.”
“There are regions that are already distanced geographically from Quebec City. They don’t need to be distanced politically as well,” he said.
Sol Zanetti, Québec Solidaire’s critic for democratic institutions, said the bill would be an opportunity to reflect on the total number of ridings in the province, especially since Quebec has not changed its voting system to a mixed proportional system.
“We have been at 125 since 1989, and the only way not to cut ridings in Gaspésie and Montreal will be to increase the number of ridings,” he said.
Asked whether the bill would include the possibility of increasing the number of MNAs, Roberge said he was “absolutely not closing the door on anything today.”
Roberge told reporters that he expects to table the bill in the next few weeks.