The proposed redistribution of electoral districts currently on the table raises many questions and causes dissatisfaction throughout Quebec, particularly in Gaspésie (where Avignon-La Mitis-Matane-Matapédia counties will be abolished) and in Saguenay-Lac Saint-Jean . Greater Quebec City is no exception. Voters from a dozen communities on Quebec’s north coast and south coast, as well as several boroughs of Quebec City, will no longer vote in the same ballot in the next federal election when the announced changes go into effect. Power as it is in 2024. Many are already pledging to challenge the new voting map and attend the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission public hearings on September 20 in Lévis and September 21 in Quebec in hopes of rolling the commissioners back. Here are the major changes proposed for the Capitale-Nationale and Chaudière-Appalaches regions.
• Also read: Revision of the federal election map: disappointment and surprise in Lac-Saint-Jean
Lac-Beauport and Sainte-Brigitte-de-Laval annexed to the east
Also the communes of Lac-Beauport and Sainte-Brigitte-de-Laval, which currently lie at the eastern end of Portneuf-Jacques-Cartier, are engulfed by the gigantic Côte-de-Beaupré-Île d’Orléans-Charlevoix, located to the east. Far from rejoicing, the mayor of Sainte-Brigitte-de-Laval, France Fortier, intends to challenge the proposed change. “I think that’s nonsense. We are part of the MRC de La Jacques-Cartier and it went very well with Mr Godin, [le député] by Portneuf Jacques Cartier. I don’t understand their approach. You could have left things as they were,” she said over the phone.
Beauport less visible
The term “Beauport” is henceforth used to designate a single constituency instead of two. From now on only the county of Beauport-Limoilou will bear this name, which no longer appears in the neighboring Riding, renamed “Côte-de-Beaupré-Île d’Orléans-Charlevoix”. The Electoral Boundaries Commission said it wanted to “restore the entire Beauport Borough, which currently spans two constituencies, by moving the eastern boundary from Beauport-Limoilou to the Montmorency River.” However, the goal was not achieved. Check done, text is wrong and many Beauportois – north of Boulevard Louis-XIV – will continue to vote in Côte-de-Beaupré-Île d’Orléans-Charlevoix.
Louis-Saint-Laurent amputated by Wendake
File photo, Stevens LeBlanc
The Louis-Saint-Laurent electoral department, overpopulated due to the demographic boom in Lebourgneuf, is amputated from the Huron reserve of Wendake and from a large part of Loretteville, which is added to Charlesbourg-Haute-Saint-Charles. Contacted by Le Journal, Conservative MP Gérard Deltell, who has represented the Huron and the Loretteville sector where he grew up for several years, preferred to save his comments for the moment. The great chief of the Huron wendats, Remy VincentShe wasn’t disgusted with the constituency change and didn’t see “any particular issue” on the horizon, he told us. “Beyond Wendake, the equestrian centers of Louis-Saint-Laurent and Charlesbourg-Haute-Saint-Charles are both on our ancestral territory, the Nionwentsïo. We will continue to follow these files closely, as we do with any issue affecting our territory,” he responded.
Québec Electoral Division expands to include Sillery
Québec’s electoral division, which currently has fewer than 100,000 residents, is expanding its borders a little to fill in new voters and better represent their political clout. All Sillery residents who live east of Maguire Avenue and previously voted in Louis-Hébert will now vote in Quebec, the riding held by Liberal Jean-Yves Duclos. Part of Vieux-Limoilou – sandwiched between Boulevard Wilfrid-Hamel, Eugène-Lamontagne, 1re Avenue and the Saint-Charles river that flows along Cartier-Brébeuf park – will no longer be part of Beauport-Limoilou and will also be Quebec County.
Seven Lotbinière communes were transferred to Mégantic-L’Érable
Photo archive, agency QMI
No fewer than seven communes of the Lotbinière RCM will leave Lévis-Lotbinière to fill the demographic deficit of the neighboring Mégantic-L’Érable riding arena. The Conservative MP for Lévis-Lotbinière, Jacques Pumpkin, does not hide his great disappointment and his desire to transfer Saint-Agapit, Saint-Gilles, Dosquet, Saint-Narcisse-de-Beaurivage, Saint-Patrice-de-Beaurivage, Saint-Sylvestre and Sainte-Agathe-de-Lotbiniere. “Every time there’s a redistribution, we try to split the MRC de Lotbinière in two and people don’t like that… I’m really disappointed,” he said. I’m also losing Saint-Narcisse, where I live. My wife and kids won’t even be able to vote for me! I will certainly make a counter-proposal to the Commissioners. We’ll see what we can do,” he said. The mayor of Saint-Agapit, Yves Gingras, also considers the redistribution proposal to be “strange”. The county of Lévis-Lotbinière will not lose everything, since on the other hand it will absorb the commune of Saint-Henri (currently in Bellechasse-Les Etchemins-Lévis).
Montagne-des-Roches annexed to… Charlevoix
The sectors of Château-Bigot and Montagne-des-Roches in the municipality of Charlesbourg are henceforth attached to the huge neighboring bridle path Côte-de-Beaupré-Île d’Orléans-Charlevoix, which extends to Baie-Sainte-Katharina. Conservative MP for Charlesbourg-Haute-Saint-Charles, Pierre Paul Hus, still can’t believe it. “It’s a district of Charlesbourg … The people of Château-Bigot will find themselves with a deputy who is in La Malbaie? It makes no sense. Of course I will challenge it. Redrawing the map may make sense if you just do population calculations, but you also have to consider the logic of the terrain. We must not uproot neighborhoods to send to a county that has no connection,” he fumed in an interview. The Bourg-Royal sector south of Boulevard Louis -XIV will be attached to Beauport-Limoilou, a more logical decision, according to MP Paul-Hus.
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