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Mount Orford will stay - Surprise move by chief electoral officer |
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The provincial electoral commission has decided it cannot move mountains so Mount Orford will remain where it is, in the Orford riding.
Marcel Blanchet, Quebec’s chief electoral officer and the chair of a roving commission holding hearings on proposed changes to Quebec’s electoral map, made the surprise announcement while in Sherbrooke last Thursday evening.
“I can reassure you, Mount Orford will stay in Orford,” Blanchet told about two dozen Townshippers, many of whom were on hand to protest a recommendation that Orford Township and the mountain that gave its name to the riding be transferred to Richmond.
“We heard the will of the people,” Blanchet said, making a molehill out of the mountain of protests he was about to hear from the Magog/Orford Chamber of Commerce, a handful of municipal officials, as well as the Orford Liberal riding association,
Former MNA Robert Benoit, who had already issued his plea to maintain the mountain in the riding, said he was pleased, but surprised by Blanchet’s expeditious ruling on the matter.
“As far as I know, these kinds of rulings from the bench are unusual,” the seasoned politician said. “I’ve certainly never seen anything like it.”
Commission spokesman Denis Dion said the quick decision was indeed unusual. After 10 hearings in 10 different regions of the province, it’s a first, he said. “And I don’t expect we’ll see anything like this again soon.”
Dion said the commission is holding hearings to improve the electoral map. He said commissioners have the tall order of ensuring that ridings have a similar number of voters, but that the ridings also represent natural communities.
Clearly the people of Orford Township who work, go to school and shop in Magog, have little or no affinity for Richmond, which is an hour’s drive away, participants argued.
“It just didn’t make any sense,” said chamber of commerce interim president Denis Roy, noting his pleasure with the commission’s about-face.
Moving the mountain into Richmond was certainly among the most unpopular modifications suggested by the independent electoral commission, which has presented the most revolutionary revamping of Quebec’s electoral map in decades. The commission is proposing to modify the boundaries for some 86 of Quebec’s 125 ridings.
The radical changes, which would eliminate three ridings in rural Quebec, where the population is dwindling, and create three new ones in suburban Montreal, where the population is exploding, created some discontent among voters outside major urban centres.
A few, including Waterloo Mayor Pascal Russell, said it’s time for Quebec to reform its electoral system.
“The reform of the electoral map will not resolve the problem of regional representation,” he said, noting demographic changes with urban centres growing and rural areas shrinking will continue. “The only solution for regions is a global reform that gives them a real place that allows them to defend their regional priorities.”
Blanchet said cries for a revamping of the system have never been louder than right now. But while Quebec voters are demanding a more proportional representation in the National Assembly, such proposals in British Columbia and Ontario were defeated in recent referendums. In B.C. almost 58 per cent of voters approved the new systems — just short of the 60 per cent needed.
While Chief Electoral Officer Blanchet reassured Orford residents about changes in their riding, Shefford riding residents voiced their concerns.
Mayor Russell, Shefford Township councillor Daniel Leclair and Shefford MNA François Bonnardel stated their firm opposition to Shefford being wiped from the map.
The commission is proposing a new electoral district would follow the boundaries of the city of Granby and eliminate the municipalities of Shefford, Warden and Waterloo. The excluded trio would join the Johnson riding to the east.
Bonnardel noted that cities from the three towns have greater affinities to Granby than to Acton Vale, the main centre of attraction in Johnson. They go to Granby, the centre city in Shefford, for post-secondary schooling, to shop and for health care services, he notes.
Leclair notes the riding represents a tight-knit community that should be preserved.
“For most matters, we are part of the Montérégie, which is headquartered in Longueuil. In tourism we are part of the Estrie region, which is centred in Sherbrooke. After this, we would be part of the Johnson riding, which is centered in Acton Vale. Sitting between three chairs is pretty uncomfortable.”
The commission is also proposing that Megantic-Compton be expanded to include some municipalities from the Coaticook MRC and that Drummond include only the city of Drummondville.
The hearings, which continue till June 13, will stop in Drummondville on June 10.
After that Quebec’s electoral representation commission will table a final proposal in the National Assembly. Changes would come into effect in the fall.
By Rita Legault
May 12, 2008
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Montreal Canadiens
