Hearings on redrawing Quebec ridings to start Monday, despite political impasse

The on-again, off-again public consultations on a controversial proposal to eliminate three rural Quebec ridings and create new ones near Montreal will proceed Monday, the province's chief electoral officer said.

The roving public hearings had been suspended due to an impasse in the provincial legislature, as the three parties could not reach an agreement on proposed changes tabled in March to 86 of the province's 125 ridings. The point of contention is the suggestion to eliminate three ridings in eastern Quebec and create three new ones in the outskirts of Montreal.

The riding of Gaspé would be redistributed into the neighbouring ridings of Matane-Gaspé and Bonaventure-Percé, while Kamouraska-Témiscouta would be scrapped, with residents voting in Rivière-du-Loup-Témiscouta and the new Côte-du-Sud riding. Beauce-Nord would also be redistributed into Beauce-Amiante, Chutes-de-la-Chaudière and Beauce-Sud.

In their place, new ridings would be added in the Montérégie, Laval and Laurentides-Lanaudière ridings, due to "the considerable increase in the number of electors," the province's Electoral Representation Commission said.

The Liberal government is opposed to scrapping the rural ridings, with Benoît Pelletier, the minister responsible for democratic reform, calling the proposal "not acceptable" and "irresponsible."

It "goes against the spirit of what we wanted to do: that is, ensuring a better representation to the regions while respecting as much as possible the 'rep by pop' principle," he said.

The Parti Québécois also opposes scrapping the ridings. The party's house leader, François Gendron, said he fears the change would create some ridings so large that residents would never see their representative.

But the Official Opposition, the Action Démocratique du Québec, supports the recommended changes.

The Liberals had vowed to negotiate with the ADQ to find a way to fairly redistribute ridings, but those efforts fell apart this week. One suggestion, to add the new Montreal-area ridings but let the rural ridings stand, was blocked by the ADQ, which says the Quebec national assembly is large enough at the current 125 members.

Pelletier, who has accused the ADQ of stonewalling the process, said the impasse means no meaningful changes can occur right away. He added the government is unlikely to allow the rural ridings to be eliminated.

Marcel Blanchet, head of the Electoral Representation Commission, has previously described the new map as "fairer" than the existing electoral boundaries, adding it "better corresponds to what Quebec has become." He said the 23 public hearings, throughout the province, will run April 21 through June 13 as planned.

After the hearings, the commission will take a second proposal to the National Assembly.