The MLA for one of the province’s Acadian ridings says recommendations from the Independent Commission on Effective Electoral Representation were well-thought out.
The McNeil government created the panel last April in response to a court case with the Acadian Federation of Nova Scotia after the Court of Appeal ruled that the process to create the current electoral map was unconstitutional.
The NDP government at the time had thrown out the first map created by an independent commission, and ordered new boundaries.
Chris d’Entremont represents the riding of Argyle-Barrington which was created in 2012.
He says the first seven recommendations talk about how the process should move forward including the important issue of how a select committee is formed.
“How the terms of reference for a future boundaries commission is put forward. That’s kind of where where the boundaries got set last time, on a faulty select committee that gave terms of reference to the boundary commission that just didn’t work.”
d’Entremont says one of the best examples of the impact from the changes in 2012 was when the riding of Shelburne County was split in two.
“That wasn’t something they had been asking for. We need to be careful in what the repercussions are for not following a Supreme Court of Canada ruling or even the Court of Appeal in Nova Scotia.”
In its report, released last week, the three-member Commission said the basis for any discussion about a new electoral map should stem from the 2002 boundaries that included three protected Acadian seats and a protected African-Nova Scotian seat.