Issues
The Electoral Boundaries Act s.17(2) permits a variance from an equal
number of electors in each district by "... not more than 25 percent
above, nor more than 25 percent below the average number of electors..."
in all 27 districts. Based on enumeration data from the last provincial
general election the average number of electors is 3,600. Consequently
there are now 9 electoral districts which are outside the 25% variance
permitted by the Electoral Boundaries Act. These districts must be
brought within the variance not only in the short term but until the
next review which might not be for another 15 years.
Bringing these districts within the variance may cause us to recommend
changes to the boundaries and areas in all or many of the remaining 18
districts. These facts give rise to a number of issues which the
Commission would like the public to address.
- should there be an equal number of voters in each of the electoral
districts?
- if the number of voters in each district is to be unequal, how far
should the number vary from equality bearing in mind any variance must be
justified and the allowable variance permitted by the Act is +/- 25%?
- in and around the cities of Charlottetown and Summerside there are
districts which are comprised of what may be termed both urban and rural
areas, should the two cities have districts which are strictly within their
municipal boundaries?
- should the same considerations apply in the two larger towns in the
Province, namely Cornwall and Stratford or to other municipalities?
- the Electoral Boundaries Act presently designates there be a certain
number of districts in each of the three counties (13 in Queens, 9 in
Prince and 5 in Kings): should these allocations or any distribution of
districts on the basis of county lines continue?
- are there geographical factors in any of the existing electoral
districts which are not being respected by the existing boundaries?
- are there population patterns which the commission should take into
account in making their recommendations?
- are there communities of interest which should be taken into
consideration?
- should the proportion of electors, rural to urban, be reflected in the
distribution of districts rural to urban? (see graphs Number of Electors Rural / Urban - Cities and Towns
and Number of Electors Rural / Urban for reference)
We stress that our consideration is not restricted to these issues and
we welcome the public's input on other issues that should be considered.
