Supreme Court rejects Quebec’s attempt to block changes to electoral map boundaries

The Supreme Court of Canada has rejected an appeal by the Quebec government that sought to block a redrawing of the provincial electoral map.

The 7-2 decision delivered from the bench means that a riding on the Gaspé Peninsula and another in Montreal’s east end will be eliminated in favour of two new districts in the growing Laurentians/Lanaudière and Centre-du-Québec regions.

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Premier François Legault’s government tabled a law in 2024 to block the redrawing crafted by the independent electoral boundaries commission, after members of all parties expressed concerns that the new map would take away political weight from Gaspé and make ridings in eastern Quebec overly large.

But the Supreme Court of Canada sided with Quebec’s Court of Appeal, which ruled last year that the law is unconstitutional and violates sections of the Charter that guarantee democratic representation.

Quebec’s election law mandates that the election map should be reviewed every two elections to account for population changes and ensure that each of the province’s 125 ridings contain roughly equal numbers of voters.

Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette says the province’s democratic institutions minister will table a new bill in partnership with the opposition parties to protect the ridings that are slated to be eliminated.