Work to redraw Nova Scotia's electoral map begins

An all-party committee of the legislature took the first step toward redrawing Nova Scotia's electoral map on Monday. 

At its first meeting, the select committee of nine MLAs — five PCs, three New Democrats and a Liberal — agreed that a new electoral boundaries commission should likely be made up of nine members and their work should be limited to creating a maximum of three new ridings.

James Charlton, the chief clerk of the Nova Scotia Legislature, warned the MLAs that any more than three would create serious challenges.

"We have an infrastructure problem at the House, which is to say our legislative chamber — as all of the members know — is very, very tight right now," Charlton told the committee. "I would probably recommend that we put an upper limit on the number of seats that be recommended."

Charlton said the chamber could probably accommodate about 58 members, which would be an increase of three from the current 55. Any more, he said, would necessitate "extensive renovations."

A new provincial electoral boundaries commission had to be created to deal with a Nova Scotia Supreme Court ruling last November that the lack of a protected district for Chéticamp was an unjustified breach of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The court gave the commission 20 months to draw up a new riding.

According to Charlton, the tight timeline meant the commission should complete its work by early in the new year, at the latest. 

The legislature's chief legislative counsel, Gordon Hebb, warned the committee charged with forming the commission and setting its mandate that failure to complete the job by July 2026 could have far-reaching consequences.

"It's a very serious issue because what the court has done in the decision is dissolved all the constituencies in Nova Scotia as of July 15, 2026," said Hebb. "So it's an absolute deadline. We've got to re-enact all the constituencies."

La Fédération acadienne de la Nouvelle-Écosse, the province's largest Acadian group, launched the court case after the commission that created the 2019 electoral map didn't give the community of Cheticamp its own riding.

The previous commission recommended the restoration of two Acadian ridings on the mainland and one in Richmond County, Cape Breton, along with one for Black Nova Scotians. But it rejected the call for a protected riding for Cheticamp because of its small population.

The MLAs will meet again twice next week, behind closed doors, to try to agree on the commission's members and its mandate.