Election map: move out Montreal and Mauricie to dress the Laurentians and Lanaudière

Posted On: January 23, 2024

In Quebec's next election, the Laurentians and Lanaudière would have two additional constituencies, while Montreal and Mauricie would each lose one, according to the Commission on Electoral Representation (CRE) report tabled in the National Assembly on Tuesday.

The next provincial election would see changes in seven of Montreal's 28 districts, mostly in the center of the island. Sainte-Marie-Saint-Jacques would disappear in favor of a new constituency called Ville-Marie.

This new riding area would also include part of Westmount-Saint-Louis and certain parts of downtown to bring together most of downtown Montreal.

Across Quebec, the current map shows 11 electoral districts that do not comply with the legal framework, and several other electoral districts are on the verge of exceeding the thresholds allowed by the law.

The revised proposal maintains the current demarcation of 97 of the 125 electoral districts.

The CRE's approach, led by the Director General of Elections and two Commissioners, must ensure fair and equal representation of voters, particularly on the basis of geographical, demographic and sociological characteristics.

However, the Member for Mercier and the Member for Sainte-Marie-Saint-Jacques (SMSJ) do not see these changes in the same way.

Amir Khadir condemned the change of name of his colleague Manon Massé's constituency. “Get out of SMSJ, those who want partisan influence on electoral map reform know how to do it,” he wrote on Twitter.

Manon Massé sees this change as a lack of courage on the part of the government. “If the government had the courage, it would push for reform of the electoral system instead of playing the electoral card. »

Laurentides-Lanaudière

As the number of voters in the Laurentians and Lanaudière has increased by 13.7% since 2007, the Commission proposes the addition of two electoral districts. This increase is the largest among Quebec's electoral regions.

A new constituency would be made up of areas currently included in the Blainville, Masson and Mirabel constituencies. This department, which will be called Les Plaines, consists of the part of the territory of the city of Mirabel, the city of Sainte-Anne-des-Plains, located east of the Laurentides highway (15), and the La Plaine sector of the city of Terrebonne.

The Commission proposes the creation of a second constituency in the sector around the city of Saint-Jérôme. This riding, to be called Prévost, arose from the current ridings of Bertrand and Rousseau.

It includes, on the one hand, the towns of Prévost and Saint-Sauveur, the municipality of Piedmont and the municipality of Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs, which currently belong to the Bertrand constituency. This also includes the municipalities of Saint-Hippolyte and Sainte-Sophie, both of which are currently in the Rousseau electoral district.

Mauricie

From 2007 to 2014, Mauricie's electoral population change was 3.3%, a significantly lower rate than Quebec's, which was 7%. According to the Institut de la Tourisme du Québec's demographic forecast, the region is expected to continue to experience modest demographic growth in the coming years.

The Commission therefore sticks to its proposal to remove one constituency from this region so that its constituency number is more representative of its electoral weight.

However, following public consultations, it made changes to the demarcation proposed in its preliminary report.

Therefore, the Commission proposes to integrate the Shawinigan-Sud sector, currently part of the Saint-Maurice constituency, into the Laviolette constituency and not into the Maskinongé constituency “in order to better respect the socio-economic and associated links of this sector”.

In addition, the Commission continues to propose that all municipalities of the MRC Maskinongé be grouped together in the constituency of the same name.

It is also proposed that the town of Saint-Tite, as well as certain municipalities of the Mékinac MRC, will now be part of the Champlain constituency. This proposal ensures that the Laviolette constituency covers a smaller area.

Finally, we would like to mention that the new electoral map will come into force after the end of the current legislative period, ie at the next parliamentary elections.

“We will be following with interest the parliamentary debate on our second report, which will take place in the coming days. Until the Commission's final decision is published at the end of the ten days following this debate, it is important to note that citizens, representatives and organizations still have time to send us comments on the delimitation or naming of electoral districts. “said the Chief Electoral Officer, Pierre Reid.