The planned disappearance of a federal electoral district in the Bas Saint-Laurent-Gaspésie region is being challenged in court.

In fact, an application has been submitted to the Federal Court to prevent the disappearance of the constituency of Avignon-La Mitis-Matane-Matapédia and the redistribution of its territory between two other constituencies, those of Gaspésie-Les-Îles-de-la-Matané. Madeleine and Rimouski-Neigette-Témiscouata-Les Basques.

The new electoral map is expected to become official in September through the adoption of a corresponding decree.

The plaintiffs in the case are the Collective Rights Quebec group and Gaspé lawyer Alexis Deschênes. They regret Quebec’s loss of political clout.

They are asking the Federal Court to issue an order annulling the decision of the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Quebec, to issue a further order maintaining the current boundaries of the electoral districts in question, and to issue a final order maintaining 79 seats for Quebec. out of a total of 344 in Canada.

The applicants base their application on several grounds, including the need for special treatment due to the geographical location of the region, which faces a lack of highways, rugged terrain and scattered towns and villages. They say that these factors make the representative work of a representative who has to travel long distances more difficult.

They also argue that Gaspésie experienced an increase in population between 2018 and 2022.

The Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Quebec had based its decision on a mathematical calculation, namely the population difference in the current electoral districts, which would exceed 25% compared to the “electoral quotient”.

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