Quebec Politicans Take an Axe to Democracy

Largely unnoticed by most, was a recent proposition put forward by the Parti Quebecois to manipulate the electoral map to it's advantage. This, hot on the heels of the Liberal party's rejection of recommendations by the Director General des Elections Quebec to re-jig the electoral map to better reflect the actual population distribution.

"Equality of the votes of electors
The equality of the votes of electors is an important prerequisite for effective representation. Each electoral district must have roughly an equal number of electors." Director General des elections Quebec  

While the principle of one person/one vote represents the democratic ideal, it never has actually been fully embraced in Quebec, with some ridings enjoying markedly a different voter base.

Definition of "Gerrymander"

"To divide a geographic area into voting districts so as to give unfair advantage to one party in elections. "

FROM DGE'S Website; 

"...equality of the vote consists of regrouping an approximately equal number of electors in each electoral division in the Province of Quebec. The Act specifies that the number of electors in an electoral division can not be greater or less than 25% of the average.

However, the Commission de la représentation électorale (CRE) can establish an exceptional electoral division that will have special dispensation from the ±25% criteria, if it judges that the decision can meet the goal of the Act: effective representation. In these cases, the CRE must give its grounds for the decision in writing." LINK

While the Director General espouses a policy of fairness, he is left with a fairly large loophole with which the principle of one person/one vote can be completely ignored.  And so we are rewarded with this dog's breakfast of riding inequity, where the number voters vary considerably.

The average number of eligible electors per riding is about 46,000, but twenty-nine of the 125 ridings fall outside the ±25% rule.
That's quite a bunch of exceptions!

If you live in the remote Magdalen Islands, your vote is actually worth almost six times as much as if you live in the Montreal suburb of Laval and as you can see, the Gaspe peninsula region is vastly over-represented.

Back in September the man in charge of the  electoral map, Marcel Blanchet, the DGE (Director General des elections)  proposed making some changes to address the problem of over and under-representation. After a three year study he suggested merging some rural ridings and adding a couple to heavily populated districts.
Premier Charest would have nothing to do with the plan because it would affect an upcoming by-election where he held out hopes of holding a riding in  Rivière-du-Loup (which he eventually lost anyways) and so, he ripped up the the DGE's proposal, which was non-binding.
In disgust Mr. Blanchet resigned.

In a decision worthy of a Quebec politician, Pierre Moreau, the Liberal minister in charge, opted to add the three seats proposed by the DGE, but not to merge the three over-represented rural seats. Bravo! Link{FR}
Considering that Ontario has 18 less seats for 50% more citizens, adding another three seems a bit excessive, but hey, this is Quebec, North Americas most over-represented and governed political entity.

Now the Parti Quebecois is proposing to make this rural/urban divide permanent with a cockamamie proposal to create two classes of ridings, rural and urban, where the concept one person/one vote would be thrown out the window.

"To add to the election Law criteria, giving a preponderance related to the dynamic occupation of the region.
("D’ajouter aux critères de la Loi électorale l’occupation dynamique du territoire en lui conférant une valeur prépondérante") PQ website {FR} 

Sounds like BS in both English and French and it reminds me of the convoluted referendum question, couched in obscure terms to soft pedal a nebulous  proposition.

Talking to Mario Dumont on his television show, xenophobe/Anglophobe Gilles Proulx said out loud what nobody in the PQ was willing to say, that the proposition is wise because it reduces the power  of immigrants in Montreal, because, after all, they aren't really Quebeckers.