Commentaire 19 (Le 13 septembre 2022) – commentaires et rétroaction

Maria Peluso

Presentation on Changes to Electoral Boundaries

I would like to thank the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Quebec for the opportunity to address concerns about the boundary changes being proposed by the Commission to the VMLSOIDS federal riding. It is hoped concerns raised will alter your current perception of the proposed radical changes.

I have been involved for the past 40 years with Concordia University, teaching in the Department of Political Science. Moreover, I have been active in community engagement with several community organizations in the riding. As Vice President of Government Affairs for the Montreal Council of Women and the Quebec Council of Women, you should know that these organizations are in the current electoral riding boundaries. I have also been active as one of the past presidents of Chez Doris, a centre for homeless women and a well-established organization in the riding. My involvement over the years with the heritage of the Shaughnessy Village and the Golden Square Mile highlights my commitment to the historical heritage of the riding.

It is hoped that my professional and community work will serve to compliment my constructive remarks being made before the Commission today.

Professional Concerns

Electoral policies have been comprehensibly studied within the field of Political Science for centuries. Results of changes to electoral boundaries have often been studied from several perspectives, and some demonstrate that modifications to a riding's borders are more nefarious than others. Because communities change, redistricting is critical to our democracy: maps must be redrawn to ensure that districts are equally populated, comply with laws and are otherwise representative of a riding's population and its historical significance. Done right, redistricting is a chance to create maps that, in the words of John Adams, are an "exact portrait, a miniature" of the people as a whole.

Voters are supposed to choose candidates. However, when lawmakers change riding boundaries to entrench divisions, it serves to thaw the will of the voters and makes races less competitive. The literature concludes, for example, that the practice of gerrymandering is a thorn in the side of democracy. Regardless of who is responsible for gerrymandering, it is ultimately the public who loses out. Rigged maps make elections less competitive, in turn making even more citizens feel like their votes do not matter, nor do such changes mirror the commitments citizens have historically made to the fabric. of their communities. I urge the Commission to reconsider its proposals to reflect the political sociology of the riding rather than ignore or dismiss the riding's significance in its citizens' economic and community engagement. The proposed changes to the riding's boundaries undermine the commitments made by its citizens. They serve to divide the spirit and will of its people rather than foster unity and acceptance of their values.

I draw your attention to the proposed changes to the riding's boundaries in three striking examples of how political sociology has been ignored. Thought should be given to a re-examination of the historical significance impact of changes on both the Golden Square Mile and on Shaughnessy Village, in addition to the impact of new boundaries on pure electoral consequences.

Golden Square Mile

The Golden Square Mile's heartbeat currently covers the geographical area between the western boundaries of Cote des Neiges, the eastern boundary of Mountain, the southern boundary of Sherbrooke and the northern boundary of Mount Royal. Citizens are not attached to the Commission's proposal of altering boundaries to absorb Outremont. No one in the Golden Square Mile is involved with Outremont. Remarkably to note is that citizens of the Golden Square Mile (since the 1850s) take their cultural and retail behaviour east of Westmount towards their own museums in Ville Marie (McCord Museum, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and their own retail preferences (Holt Renfrew, the Eaton Centre, the Bay etc.) Their corporate retail behaviour is far removed from Outremont regarding consumer behaviour. The riding of Outremont has its own laudable cultural and corporate citizenry, but Outremont has no historical or cultural antecedents to those living in the Golden Square Mile. Did the Commission consider any of these facts in the proposed changes to the boundaries?

Shaughnessy Village

There is no connection between the community engagement of citizens in the Shaughnessy Village area and the separate community engagement of citizens living in Westmount. If one devotes attention to the historical activism of citizens in Shaughnessy Village, one would be impressed with the community's solidarity in the area governed between Atwater, Guy, Rene Levesque and Sherbrooke. They help foster the creation of the International Architectural Centre of Montreal, the protection of green space and housing, the revamping of John Cabot square and concerns with the growing indigenous population descending into the parameters of the Shaughnessy Village geographical area.

Political Consequences of Proposed Boundaries

Confusion with the division of boundary changes to the federal level of the electoral riding. What is proposed by the Commission will succeed in creating three distinct federal ridings splitting both McGill and Concordia's main campuses from one federal riding to three. At the municipal level, the Peter McGill municipal district would also now have three different distinct federal ridings and Members of Parliament.

With the proposed boundaries, there is a disregard for the logistics of current voting behaviour. Access to voting booths and riding activities means that the participation of citizens will be reduced and not enhanced. Voting polls and attendance at riding annual and nomination meetings will reduce turnout. For example, obliging citizens in the Golden Mile to venture into Outremont (as proposed) to 10 kilometres and a geographical area on the other side of Mount Royal Mountain will not encourage voter or electoral participation. Currently, citizens have easy access to polling stations and their riding associations. Proposed boundary changes would reduce participation in our electoral process. As a political scientist and active community participant in downtown Montreal, I am dismayed with the proposed changes to the boundaries of Vile-Marie-Le Sud-Ouest-Ile-des-Soeurs for reduced electoral behaviour of its citizens.is

I have no idea if the Commission has examined the distinction between population rates as opposed to the electoral rate (those who can vote), nor do I know whether the Commission has assessed the difference between homogenous ridings as opposed to those with diverse populations. Simply put, the lovely region of the Laurentians is more homogenous than those residing in the diverse population in the riding of Ville-Marie-Le Sud-Ouest-Ile-des-Soeurs.

I also have no idea if the Commission has heard presentations from those who live or work in Ville-Marie-Le Sud-Ouest-Ile-des-Soeurs or heard from others who have no knowledge or experience of the electoral boundaries being addressed in this particular electoral riding. It is expected that the Commission gives precedent to those connected to Ville-Marie-Le Sud-Ouest-Ile-des-Soeurs.

Concerns about gerrymandering require some understanding as it is not an accusation of the work of the Commission. To clarify, if one examines the historical evolution of gerrymandering, one begins to understand how it slowly developed to the nefarious political situations we often see in countries like Ireland or the United States. My concerns are about the historical directional evolution of electoral boundaries edging towards gerrymandering. Again, not an accusation but an exciting study in addressing electoral boundaries.

I thank the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Quebec for the opportunity to present before you. Regardless of which party is responsible for electoral boundary changes, it is ultimately the citizens who lose out. I urge you to reassess your proposed changes for the citizens of VMLSOIDS and the heartbeat of our community. Democracy with greater participation of citizens needs to be enhanced as a moral imperative. I leave you with the words of the Honourable Joe Clark, a former Prime Minister of Canada "Canada is a community of communities." Let us build on our community for Ville-Marie-Le Sud-Ouest-Ile-des-Soeurs rather than seeing its demise.