L’Observatoire international des droits linguistiques

Nova Scotia’s House of Assembly Act, R.S.N.S. 1989, c. 61, s. 5, says that, every 10 years, an Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission is to inquire and recommend provincial electoral boundaries. Under s. 5: (1) the Commission is to conduct hearings, prepare an interim report, hold further hearings on the contents of the interim report, then prepare a final report; (2) the Government is to introduce the recommendations from the final report as a bill in the Legislature. The leading decision of the Supreme Court of Canada has said that: (1) to comply with s. 3 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the electoral boundaries should accomplish “effective representation”; and (2) effective representation involves a balance of voter parity with other criteria that may include minority representation and cultural identity.In 1992 and 2002, the Commission recommended, and the Legislature enacted, electoral boundaries for the significantly Acadian ridings of Clare, Argyle and Richmond that had notably less than the average population ratio for Nova Scotia’s ridings generally. The reason was to encourage the participation in the Legislature by individuals belonging to the Acadian minority.