The Standing Committee on Official Languages has the honour to present its

 

 

FIFTH REPORT

 

 

At the end of each decennial census, the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada determines the number of seats each province and territory is assigned under section 51 of the Constitution Act, 1867.  In March 2002, federal electoral boundaries commissions were established in each province[1] with the mandate to propose new boundaries for federal electoral districts according to the latest census data and various other factors provided in the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act.

 

The Act provides that three factors are to be taken into consideration when federal electoral boundaries are to be set:  (1) the electoral quota, which means that the population of a riding cannot differ by more than 25% from the average population of ridings in the province; (2) the community of interests, or "or community of identity in or the historical pattern of an electoral district in the province"[2]; and (3) the geographic size, that is, a riding must not be too vast.

 

However, although the commissioners are to take the three factors into consideration simultaneously, the Act provides in section 15(2) that, " except in circumstances viewed by the commission as being extraordinary"[3],  the commissions should not permit a difference between the population and the electoral quota equal to or greater than 25%.  The principle of voter equality must be maintained insofar as possible.

 

At the end of March 2003, all of the commissions' reports were submitted to the Speaker of the House of Commons for referral to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs. 

The concepts of community of interest and official language minority community

 

The Official Languages Act provides that the Standing Committee on Official Languages is responsible for monitoring the administration of the Act and its regulations in all sectors of the Government of Canada, including that of Elections Canada.

 

Two cases were submitted to the Committee in which one concept of community of interest—official languages—was not given sufficient consideration.  In these cases brought to the attention of the Committee members, witnesses reported that the community of interest concept of official language had not been given sufficient consideration by the federal electoral boundaries commission in the provinces involved.

 

The Member for the riding of Acadie--Bathurst, Mr. Yvon Godin, contested the changes proposed by the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for New Brunswick. The readjustment to the riding of Acadie--Bathurst would result in the annexation of the parish of Allardville, part of the parish of Saumarez and part of the parish of Bathurst to the predominantly anglophone riding of Miramichi.   The changes proposed do not take into account the concept of community of interest and the linguistic specificity of the riding.  On February 5, 2003, Professor Denis Duval of the University of Moncton corroborated Mr. Godin's remarks by demonstrating with reference to a well-documented study on the matter that the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for New Brunswick had failed to accord sufficient importance to the linguistic variable in its deliberations.[4] 

 

In addition, the Commissioner of Official Languages investigated the restructuring of the federal riding of Acadie--Bathurst.  She concluded in a preliminary report that the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for New Brunswick had not met its responsibilities under section 41 of the Official Languages Act[5], which pertain to the Government of Canada's commitment to promote the development and vitality of anglophone and francophone minority communities in Canada.

 

Another instance was brought to the attention of the Committee by the Member for St. Albert, Mr. John Williams.  Mr. Williams contends that the revision of the electoral boundaries of his riding would break up the francophone linguistic and cultural community within it.  He said that the political weight of the francophone community would be reduced because the city of St. Albert, and the towns of Morinville and Legal, which have a significant francophone population, would now be located in new ridings: either Edmonton--St. Albert  or  Weslock--St. Paul.  On April 1, 2003,  the Committee heard from the president of the Association canadienne-française de l’Alberta, Mr. Ernest Chauvet, and from Mr. John O’Neill, Board Member of the Arts and Heritage Foundation of St. Albert and former provincial deputy minister of multiculturalism for Alberta.  The Committee also took into consideration the comments by the mayor of St. Albert, Mr. Richard H. M. Plain, who sent a letter to the Chair of the Committee, which Mr. O'Neill read when he appeared.  Both witnesses confirmed that the changes proposed by the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Alberta would split the historic francophone corridor formed by the city of St. Albert and the towns of Morinville and Legal.

 

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages wishes to express its profound dissatisfaction that these two provincial commissions failed to give sufficient consideration to the concept of community of interest in terms of official language.  The Committee considers that the commissions ignored their responsibilities in the matter of official languages in basing their decision on the principle of electoral quota only. 

 

In addition, the Committee wonders whether the training session provided by Elections Canada to the members of the commissions on their official languages responsibilities was sufficient to make them aware of the issue.  Despite the presentation by the Commissioner of Official Languages in March 2002, everything would appear to indicate that the message did not get through, at least in the two cases brought to our attention.

 

RECOMMENDATION

 

The Committee requests the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commissions of New Brunswick and Alberta to review their current proposals for readjusting federal electoral boundaries so as to take into consideration their effects on the growth and development of official language minority communities.  The Committee recommends, further, that the other commissions and the Standing Committee on Procedures and House Affairs ensure that the official languages aspect of the concept of community of interest has been taken into consideration in the current review exercise.

 

 

 

REQUEST FOR GOVERNMENT RESPONSE

 

 

 

            Pursuant to Standing Order 109, your Committee requests the Government to table a comprehensive response to this Report.

 

 

            A copy of the relevant Minutes of Proceedings (Meetings Nos. 8, 17 and 19) is tabled.

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

Mauril Bélanger, M.P.
Chair