Now the city\u2019s clout in the National Assembly is set to shrink yet again. According to the latest recalibration, put forward by the CRE in 2024, three east-end ridings \u2014 Anjou\u2013Louis-Riel, LaFontaine and Pointe-aux-Trembles \u2014 are going to be whittled down to two<\/a> in time for the next election in October. They will be christened Anjou\u2013LaFontaine and Pointe-aux-Prairies.<\/p>\n As Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada lamented last week: \u201cLosing a riding also unfortunately means losing political weight.\u201d<\/p>\n Montreal\u2019s influence has been steadily eroding for decades as the CRE makes adjustments to ensure equal representation among different regions of Quebec based on population shifts.<\/p>\n But Montreal\u2019s standing is not the main reason the National Assembly sought to override the CRE\u2019s latest electoral map revisions with a law \u2014 a move that the Supreme Court of Canada last week invalidated<\/a> and deemed unconstitutional, reaffirming an earlier decision<\/a> by the Quebec Court of Appeal.<\/p>\n All parties in the National Assembly joined forces to keep the same distribution of seats for the 2026 election to save a riding in the Gasp\u00e9 from elimination. It, along with the Montreal district, would have made room for two new seats: one in central Quebec and one in the Laurentians.<\/p>\n But after the Supreme Court ruling, newly minted premier Christine Fr\u00e9chette said her Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec government will take another stab at halting the changes. And she appears to have the backing of other parties in the National Assembly \u2014 who were the ones most forcefully pressing the CAQ government to intervene in the first place.<\/p>\n To be clear, the political manoeuvring is not the kind of gerrymandering taking place in the U.S., where electoral districts are being redrawn to deliberately favour or disadvantage a particular party, group, community or constituency for nakedly partisan reasons.<\/p>\n Here, the concerns are preserving the Gasp\u00e9\u2019s sway despite its falling population, as well as the difficulties that would arise for the next MNAs representing the vast remaining ridings. In a province where victory is clinched in the regions, making sure voters in the Gasp\u00e9 feel heard has become orthodoxy every party considers in its interests.<\/p>\n The removal of another district from Montreal may be secondary to this extraordinary mobilization, but both cases nevertheless raise serious concerns that deserve to be addressed soon.<\/p>\n The problem here is how Quebec\u2019s elected officials are going about it. In essence, legislators want to run roughshod over the processes and bodies they themselves set up to make impartial, if sometimes controversial or unpopular decisions<\/a>, which is fundamental to democracy.<\/p>\n Not only did the initial law circumvent the mandate of the CRE, whatever politicians do next looks likely to skirt the Supreme Court, in spirit if not in substance. (The notwithstanding clause, the usual remedy, is not applicable in this case.)<\/p>\n This is a dangerous precedent to set in a democracy.<\/p>\n The CRE is an independent organization created and empowered to examine electoral boundaries every few years. Its mandate is to ensure effective representation, the equality of voters and the inviolability of natural communities. Its review is based on pre-established criteria that take account of demographic changes so that there are roughly 51,000 voters per riding.<\/p>\n The commission makes proposals, solicits feedback from MNAs, citizens, communities and groups \u2014 sometimes multiple times \u2014 and tweaks its plans before publishing a final map. It\u2019s a juggling act and there are always winners and losers.<\/p>\n The procedure was designed to resist political interference. So shunting aside its work risks politicization, regardless of good intentions.<\/p>\n As the CRE said in a statement when the National Assembly announced it was going to suspend the new map: \u201cThe legitimacy of the process of revising the\u00a0electoral map\u00a0must be based on its independence and impartiality. \u2026 A stoppage of work would jeopardize the\u00a0fair\u00a0and equitable representation of voters for the next election.\u201d<\/p>\n Sidestepping the Supreme Court decision is also problematic on political if not necessarily legal grounds. Let\u2019s not forget that a group from the Laurentians, whose new riding MNAs are ready to jettison, went to court to defend their rights. They won. By acting to protect the Gasp\u00e9\u2019s clout at the expense of the Laurentians, elected officials are telling some voters they matter less.<\/p>\n Since the National Assembly can\u2019t very well do exactly what the Supreme Court just said it can\u2019t (at least not if it wants to maintain a veneer of credibility), MNAs are now considering alternative methods.<\/p>\n Qu\u00e9bec solidaire wants to add two new ridings and restore the two set to be abolished, raising the total number of seats<\/a> in the National Assembly to 127. But upping the tally has its own repercussions that could dilute representation elsewhere.<\/p>\n Legislators could also review the CRE\u2019s parameters, instituting an exception for the Gasp\u00e9 as they did previously for \u00celes de la Madeleine to protect voters\u2019 influence while ensuring the riding isn\u2019t too geographically unwieldy to effectively represent.<\/p>\n (While they\u2019re at it, they should look at criteria to prevent Montreal\u2019s weight from being constantly diminished given its important status, though that seems less likely.)<\/p>\n But any such moves would be best accomplished outside the periodic review process \u2014 not rushed through a few months before the new map is supposed to come into effect and Quebecers head to the polls. It\u2019s a bit late to be sending the CRE back to the drawing board.<\/p>\n Even if the concerns about the latest redistricting are reasonable and political parties are uniting behind intervention, there are important principles at stake that should be respected.<\/p>\n Maintaining the integrity of the independent process for setting electoral boundaries is essential to buttressing democracy \u2014 now and in the future.<\/p>\n ahanes@postmedia.com<\/a><\/p>\n \t\tEditor\u2019s Picks\t<\/p>\n
![\"Profile](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/hanes_allison_0000_720.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n