Electoral Boundaries Revisions: Revised Proposals

Following the completion of the public hearing process, the Commission reviewed in detail all of the materials and submissions gathered in that process. Public concerns focused on two areas: (1) the trade-off between the two key factors of "relative parity of voting power" and "community of interest", and (2) the specific boundaries proposed for several electoral districts. Although citizen concerns were not received from all parts of the Province, the Commission proceeded on the assumption that "all matters were on the table". Thus, the Commission reviewed all of its previous recommendations in preparing these revised Proposals.

The process the Commission used in preparing its initial Proposals was also followed by the Commission in preparing its revised Proposals, with one notable addition. Because revised proposals for provincial electoral boundaries had been recently submitted (September 4, 2002) to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly, the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Nova Scotia decided to review the proposed provincial electoral boundaries. Thus, the proposed provincial electoral boundaries were added to the Commission’s data set.

The revised provincial electoral boundaries for the Nova Scotia House of Assembly were contained in Bill No. 142, which received Royal Assent on November 28, 2002. All references to provincial electoral boundaries contained in this report refer to these revised boundaries for the Nova Scotia House of Assembly, as defined in the House of Assembly Act, as amended on November 28, 2002.

A further concern of the Commission in preparing its revised Proposals was the naming of several electoral districts. The Commission has sought to retain the current electoral district names wherever appropriate. For example, even though the Commission is recommending that the current electoral district of West Nova¹ be expanded into Kings County, it is also recommending that the name of West Nova¹ remain in place. However, revised electoral districts, particularly in the rural areas of the Province, are increasingly large in terms of their geography, making it difficult to include all significant place names in their titles. Thus, because the Commission felt that adding Musquodoboit Valley to the current name of Cumberland–Colchester would be unwieldy, it is recommending the use of a new name, that of North Nova. Where a new area has been added to a longstanding electoral district, the Commission has sought to reflect this change by adding the new area to the electoral district name, as in the addition of St. Margaret’s to the South Shore name (i.e. South Shore becomes South Shore–St. Margaret’s). A related problem of naming occurs when revised electoral districts no longer parallel county boundary lines. Thus, because the current electoral district of Pictou–Antigonish–Guysborough no longer contains a major portion of Guysborough County and because it also gains a significant portion of Halifax County, an electoral district name based on counties no longer seemed appropriate. Thus, the Commission in this case recommends reusing the name Central Nova² from a previous electoral redistribution as a more generic name for this proposed electoral district.

In Schedule "E" the Commission presents its revised Proposals for the eleven federal electoral districts in the Province of Nova Scotia. Schedule "E" indicates the name of each electoral district, its population based on the 2001 census, its percentage variance from the electoral quota of 82,546, and its seat entitlement.

In the following pages, the Commission outlines its revised Proposals, by region, for each of Nova Scotia’s eleven federal electoral districts, noting any changes in comparison with its initial Proposals of July 13, 2002, as well as indicating any changes in electoral district names.

Cape Breton Region

The electoral districts of Sydney–Victoria and Cape Breton–Canso are the same in these revised Proposals as they were in the Commission’s initial Proposals. The proposed Sydney–Victoria electoral district has a variance of –3.91 and a seat entitlement of 0.96 and is almost identical in its geography with the current Sydney–Victoria electoral district.

Because of its low population number, the current electoral district of Bras d’Or–Cape Breton is extended across the Canso Causeway and renamed Cape Breton–Canso. It now includes the Municipal District of Guysborough in Guysborough County, along with the existing portions of Inverness, Victoria, Richmond and Cape Breton counties. The proposed Cape Breton–Canso electoral district will have a variance of –8.91 and a seat entitlement of 0.91.

Eastern Region

With the inclusion of a portion of Guysborough County in the revised electoral district of Cape Breton–Canso, the "ripple effect" of that change necessitated a revision to the current electoral district of Pictou–Antigonish–Guysborough. In its initial Proposals, the Commission extended the current electoral district of Pictou–Antigonish–Guysborough into the eastern portion of Halifax County and recommended a name change to Central Nova.² The name change reflects a previous usage for an electoral district based in this area, as well as the fact that whole county groupings now would not accurately reflect the makeup of this proposed electoral district.

In these revised Proposals, the Commission also recommends an extension of this electoral district along the Eastern Shore into Halifax County, but with the Musquodoboit Valley now being added to a neighbouring electoral district (see below) instead of to the Central Nova² electoral district. The variance for the proposed Central Nova² electoral district will be –10.69, with a seat entitlement of 0.89.

Northern Region

In its initial Proposals, the Commission recommended that the current electoral district of Cumberland–Colchester remain unchanged. However, in these revised Proposals, the Commission recommends that the Musquodoboit Valley in Halifax County be added to this electoral district, with the name of the electoral district changed to North Nova. The Commission recommends that the area that is added to Cumberland–Colchester extend to the southern boundary of the provincial electoral district of Colchester–Musquodoboit Valley. The new North Nova federal electoral district will thus be composed of five provincial electoral districts in their entirety: Cumberland North, Cumberland South, Colchester North, Truro–Bible Hill, and Colchester–Musquodoboit Valley. North Nova will have a variance of +6.01 and a seat entitlement of 1.06.

The Commission considered renaming this electoral district as Cumberland–Colchester–Musquodoboit Valley. However, the Commission felt that such a "triple name" was somewhat unwieldy and would go against the "Guidelines for the Selection of Federal Electoral District Names" prepared by the Geographical Names Board of Canada. A second reason for the Commission’s proposed name change was that it would complement the names of other proposed electoral districts (i.e. West Nova¹ and Central Nova²). Third, this area of the Province has often been designated as "northern" Nova Scotia in various geographical breakdowns and, thus, would be recognized by most people as appropriate for this region. Finally, the Commission sought to recognize the name of the "North Novies" of the celebrated "North Nova Scotia Highlanders" which included many servicemen from the Cumberland-Colchester region, who served with such distinction in World War II.

Western and Kings–Hants Regions

West Nova¹

Because of the declining population in the current electoral district of West Nova,¹ the Commission in its initial Proposals recommended an extension of West Nova’s¹ eastern boundary to include the Kingston-Greenwood area in Kings County. At the public hearings in Coldbrook, the Commission received conflicting advice – to either leave West Nova¹ as it is (thus returning the Kingston-Greenwood area to the Kings–Hants electoral district) or to extend West Nova¹ even further eastward to include all of the provincial electoral district of Kings West. The latter change would allow for further growth in Kings–Hants and allow the Enfield-Elmsdale area to remain in the Kings–Hants electoral district.

After reviewing the public presentations and population trends in this region, the Commission decided to extend the current electoral district of West Nova¹ to include the provincial electoral district of Kings West. The revised West Nova¹ electoral district will have a variance of +6.92 and a seat entitlement of 1.07.

Kings–Hants

Because the current electoral district of Kings–Hants was twenty percent over the electoral quota, the Commission, in its initial Proposals, recommended that the Kingston-Greenwood area be added to West Nova¹ and that the Elmsdale-Enfield area in Hants County be added to the initially proposed Halifax East electoral district. With the above recommended change to the West Nova¹ electoral district, the Commission makes a corresponding change to its recommendations for the revised Kings–Hants electoral district. Due to the fact that the provincial electoral district of Kings West is being added to West Nova,¹ population concerns in Kings–Hants are alleviated, and Kings–Hants is now able to retain the Elmsdale-Enfield area in Hants County. The revised proposal for Kings–Hants is that it will contain all of Hants County, plus that portion of Kings County contained in the provincial electoral districts of Kings North and Kings South.

The revised Kings–Hants electoral district will have a variance of –3.95 and a seat entitlement of 0.96.

South Shore Region

In its initial Proposals, the Commission recommended that the current electoral district of South Shore remain unchanged. In these revised Proposals, the Commission recommends that the eastern boundary of the South Shore electoral district be extended into Halifax County to match the eastern boundary of the provincial electoral district of Chester–St. Margaret’s. The Commission recommends that the name of this electoral district be changed to South Shore–St. Margaret’s to reflect this geographical expansion of the electoral district to both sides of St. Margaret’s Bay.

The revised electoral district of South Shore–St. Margaret’s will have a variance of +1.39 and a seat entitlement of 1.01.

Halifax County Region

As the 2001 census demonstrates, Halifax County continues to be the area with the most significant population increase in Nova Scotia. Halifax County now contains forty percent of the Province’s total population (compared to twenty-five percent in 1951). One of the Commission’s concerns was how to reflect this growth in the pattern of electoral boundaries that it recommended. Areas of negative or slow growth have seen larger geographical electoral districts recommended, as in the Cape Breton and the rural mainland areas. The extension of several of these electoral districts into Halifax County (i.e. Cumberland–Colchester adds the Musquodoboit Valley, the South Shore gains the St. Margaret’s Bay area, and Central Nova² includes a portion of the Eastern Shore) responds to the population growth in Halifax County.

Halifax

The current electoral district of Halifax was altered in the Commission’s initial Proposals in terms of how it extended beyond the peninsula onto the mainland. The Commission proposed that the electoral district of Halifax lose the Clayton Park area north of Main Avenue and gain the area of Spryfield. The Commission’s revised Proposals further alter the mainland portion of the Halifax federal electoral district: Halifax loses the community of Fairview, as well as the Clayton Park area, and gains Spryfield and the communities along the Herring Cove Road all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. The revised Halifax electoral district will now contain the provincial electoral districts of Halifax Citadel, Halifax Needham, Halifax Chebucto, Halifax Fairview (minus the community of Fairview) and Halifax Atlantic.

The revised Halifax electoral district will have a variance of +7.74 and a seat entitlement of 1.08.

Halifax West

The revised proposal for Halifax West is different from both the current electoral district and the Commission’s initial Proposals. The Commission’s initial Proposals recommended that Halifax West gain the Clayton Park area north of Main Avenue from the Halifax electoral district and lose the area of Spryfield to the Halifax electoral district. The initial Proposals also recommended that Halifax West lose the Upper Sackville area to the initially-proposed Halifax East electoral district.

In the Commission’s revised Proposals, it is recommended that Halifax West gain the communities of Fairview and Clayton Park from the Halifax electoral district, lose the Spryfield area and the communities along the Herring Cove Road to Halifax, lose the eastern side of St. Margaret’s Bay to the proposed electoral district of South Shore–St. Margaret’s, and lose the Upper Sackville area to the revised Sackville–Eastern Shore electoral district.

The revised Proposals will create a Halifax West electoral district that has a variance of –3.17 and a seat entitlement of 0.97.

Dartmouth–Cole Harbour

In its initial Proposals, the Commission did not keep all of the community of Dartmouth together in one electoral district. A portion of the provincial electoral district of Dartmouth North was included in the proposed federal electoral district of Halifax East.

Public input in response to the Commission’s initial Proposals focused on two areas: (1) the need not to split the community of Dartmouth North, and (2) a rejection of the proposed name of Halifax East. The Commission notes that the name "Halifax East" was proposed because it corresponds to the long-used name "Halifax West" on the other side of Halifax County, and because it reflects the provincial amalgamation of municipalities in Halifax County. However, in its revised Proposals, the Commission no longer utilizes the name of Halifax East for either of the electoral districts located on the eastern side of Halifax County.

The revised electoral district of Dartmouth–Cole Harbour will include the provincial electoral districts of Dartmouth North, Dartmouth South–Portland Valley, Dartmouth East and Cole Harbour.

The proposed federal electoral district of Dartmouth–Cole Harbour will have a variance of +7.22 and a seat entitlement of 1.08.

Sackville–Eastern Shore

The proposed electoral district of Sackville–Eastern Shore no longer contains the Musquodoboit Valley area in the current electoral district of Sackville–Musqudoboit Valley–Eastern Shore. As a result, Musquodoboit Valley is dropped from the name of this electoral district. The proposed Sackville–Eastern Shore electoral district includes Upper Sackville, Middle Sackville and Lower Sackville in one electoral district, along with Fall River, Waverly, Preston, Eastern Passage and parts of Cole Harbour and the Eastern Shore.

The proposed federal electoral district of Sackville–Eastern Shore will have a variance of +1.34 and a seat entitlement of 1.01.

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