Comment 36 (20 August 2022) – comments and feedback

Patrick Finnigan

The many constituents and I of MGL are very concerned about the new redistribution plan.

I will go into detail while making my presentation but essentially it will deal mainly with the rules the commission are subjected to specifically 15(1)b,

(i)the community of interest or community of identity in or the historical pattern of an electoral district in the province, and

(ii) a manageable geographic size for districts in sparsely populated, rural and northern regions of the province

We believe, respectfully to the commission and the hard work they have performed, that the proposed new redistribution does not adhere to the above rules, and I believe this can easily be corrected as I plan to demonstrate when I make my presentation.

Concerns and suggestions regarding proposed new distribution boundries for the riding of miramichi-grand lake

Honorable chair justice Lavigne, Honourable Commission member justice Riordon, and Commission member Dr Grondin.

First of all, I would like to thank you all for providing me with the opportunity to present my concerns and suggestions here today in front of the Commission. As a former MP and lifelong resident in the riding of M-GL, I have gotten to know the region quite well, and hopefully I can bring an additional perspective to the proposed changes.

Tout d'abord, je voudrais vous remercier tous de m'avoir donné l'occasion de présenter mes préoccupations et mes suggestions ici aujourd'hui devant la Commission. En tant qu'ancien député et résident de longue date dans la circonscription de M-GL, j'ai appris à bien connaître la région et j'espère pouvoir apporter une perspective supplémentaire aux changements proposés.

As stated in the federal redistribution document, M-GL is the largest NB federal riding in total area, and the new proposal plans to make it even bigger. As the federal Election Act requires a minimum population along with other considerations, it is obvious the M-GL riding, already under the 25% the electoral quota, needs to add population to meet those numbers. This is not an easy task while also trying to maintain a manageable and representative territory. We also know that the other 3 northern and northwestern ridings are also seeing a declining or stagnant population within their boundaries, therefore not an area where M-Gl could or should expand.

Urban regions such as Fredericton, Saint John and the Moncton Dieppe regions are all growing in population, with Moncton Dieppe region leading the way and is forecasted to continue on that trend for the foreseeable future.

Since 2014, as a candidate and subsequently as an MP following the 2015 elections, I've heard it loud and clear from the residents of the Grand Lake region, who had just been made part of the new M-GL riding, that they were not happy with the new changes. Their reasons, as you all probably already know, was the fact that they had no ties with the rest of their new riding. The Minto Chipman population gravitates (if I can use that word) mostly towards the Fredericton region and to perhaps to a lesser extent, the Sussex region. Whether for work, Health services, education, shopping, social and cultural events, family ties and many other reasons, they feel part of that greater region. Geographically and historically, including ties with the Saint John River basin which encompasses the Grand Lakes region, that is where they see themselves. If we agree that the city of Miramichi would the center, or hub of the riding, they are roughly 150 km or 1 hour and 45 minutes away, using mostly secondary roads. This not only makes it difficult for the MP to maintain close contact with the constituents, but in my experience, their participation in the electoral process was extremely small regardless of the party. Extending the boundaries another 30+ kilometers further southwest towards Waterborough and Sheffield is only going to exacerbate that problem.

Of course, the Fredericton Oromocto riding does not need additional population, but if these newly added region were to merge instead with the Tobique-Mactaquac riding, they would still be part of the greater Fredericton region, but with other mostly rural farming and forestry communities all part of the Saint John River basin area, and greatly add much needed population to that riding, with a whole lot more in common, thus a greater sense of belonging and likely participation.

Bien sûr, la circonscription de Fredericton Oromocto n'a pas besoin de population supplémentaire, mais si ces régions nouvellement ajoutées fusionnaient plutôt avec la circonscription de Tobique-Mactaquac, elles feraient toujours partie de la grande région de Fredericton, mais avec d'autres communautés agricoles et forestières principalement rurales faisant toutes partie de la région du bassin de la rivière Saint-Jean, et ajouteraient grandement la population dont la circonscription a grandement besoin, avec beaucoup plus en commun, donc un plus grand sentiment d'appartenance et de participation probable.

So, back to the Miramichi riding, which on top of already not meeting the population requirements by the Election Act, are about to lose another 1900 people in the proposed redistribution plan by sending Haut Riviere du portage and Brantville to Acadie-Bathurst. That move makes more sense in my view, even though Acadie-Bathurst meets their population requirement for now, but the division created when the municipality of Tracadie amalgamated those communities within its territory, should merge with that riding also. But, the voice of the francophone population, already a minority in the riding, is diminished quite extensively.

Where does this leave the M-GL riding, and how can it make up the wide gap in population deficit?

As stated earlier, the Moncton Dieppe region is the fastest growing region in the province and is showing no signs of slowing down. If we look into the future, they could reach the maximum population eventually, and the only way, if we consider proximity and existing riding populations, to share that growth would be to go northward on their connected littoral coast of M-GL.

These two ridings have so much in common, whether the huge fishing and aquaculture sector, their rural farm and forest sector, their linguistic and cultural and historical ties including acadian, Irish and Scottish and especially Indigenous Mi'kmaq communities throughout their ridings. On the economic and employment front, many people from as far as Bouctouche and beyond commute to Miramichi to work for the Federal and provincial government such as at the Payroll center, the Federal Gun Registry, the Federal Renous Penitentiary, and the Miramichi hospital as examples. As for their health needs, Miramichi serves as far as Richibucto and beyond. They travel mostly on the recently improved highway 11, that links the north and south littoral.

Depending how far south would be necessary to achieve the required population, if the new redistribution would at least extend to the southern boundaries of the provincial riding of Kent North, that would, I believe, ensure that the francophone population already a minority in M-GL, would not to lose numbers, as the communities of Haut Riviere du Portage and Brantville merge with the Acadie Bathurst riding.

Again, using Miramichi as the hub of the riding, the distance between Miramichi to Richibucto-Village is 80 km, as compared to Miramichi to Waterborough, which is 180 km.

I truly believe looking at this important democratic process we are about to undertake in an absolute unpartisan way, the north south expansion of M-GL would be so much more representative and practical model than the wide southwestern proposed model.

I hope my presentation will be taken into serious consideration before the final report is submitted. Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any questions or comments.

Encore une fois, je tiens à vous remercier de m'avoir donné l'occasion de présenter mes suggestions de modifications et je vous remercie pour ce travail très important que vous avez tous accepté d'entreprendre.

Again, I want to thank you for the opportunity to present my modifications suggestions and thank you for the most important work you have all agreed to undertake.

Sincerely,

Patrick Finnigan