An unrepresentative Quebec

editor robert

10 years ago

www.thesuburban.com

Robert Frank (Quebec electoral commission still fails cities, March 25) does not go far enough in his objections to the latest proposed electoral map.

Yes, the so-called redrawn electoral districts do little to redress the imbalance between rural and urban and, yes, the large metro areas—the economic engines of Quebec—are badly served.

However, at heart, Quebec politicians reserve special treatment for those who live in so-called remote areas.

The notion that there are approximately six protected ridings and that over one-third of the other electoral districts are outside Quebec’s own legislated guidelines demonstrates a contempt for one of the underlying features of any democracy; that is, one vote does not carry more weight than another.

Federal election officials in Canada and those in most other provinces and territories have set in law strict domains dealing with population and size as determining voting areas. This is required to account for population shifts and on-going demographics.

However, in Quebec, contrary to its own rules, our law makers seem to believe that ‘the regions’ and ‘special areas’ are entitled to extraordinary voting authority. Therefore, these enclaves have the power to skew provincial elections and, in some ways, void the votes of other citizens.

Prof. Jon G. Bradley

McGill University

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