New Brunswick Electoral Redistribution, 2006
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The 2006 New Brunswick electoral redistribution was undertaken as a result of legislation introduced by
Bernard Lord Bernard Lord (born September 27, 1965) is a Canadian lawyer, business executive and former politician. He served as the 30th premier of New Brunswick from 1999 to 2006. Lord was appointed as board chair of Ontario Power Generation in 2014. Ear ...
, the
Premier of New Brunswick The premier of New Brunswick ( (masculine) or (feminine)) is the first minister and head of government for the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The premier of a Canadian province is much like the prime minister of Canada. They are normally ...
,
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, on June 9, 2005. The legislation establishes a statutory requirement for redistribution of
electoral districts An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provid ...
after every decennial Canadian census. The redistribution process set out in the legislation took approximately six months to complete, and was overseen by an independent commission. The bill introduced by the government would have required that 55 ridings be maintained with populations varying between 75% and 110% of 1/55 of the provincial population. The Opposition Liberals expressed a desire for the commission to have greater flexibility either in the variance of the average population or in the number of districts. On June 30, 2005, an agreement was reached and the bill was amended to allow the commission to ignore population basis entirely in "extraordinary circumstances," but should strive to be within the range of 90% to 110% of the average population of 55 districts. There was considerable work to be done as 35 out of the 55 districts that existed from the outset were outside of the +/- 10% range. This is due in part to the population shifts over the course of a decade, and because the requirement was +/- 25% during the previous redistribution. In the end, the commission was able to maintain most districts in their same alignment by means of minor boundary adjustments. However, two sets of districts were merged and there were considerable changes of district boundaries in the cities
Dieppe Dieppe (; ; or Old Norse ) is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department, Normandy, northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to Newhaven in England ...
and
Fredericton Fredericton (; ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. The city is situated in the west-central portion of the province along the Saint John River (Bay of Fundy), Saint John River, ...
.


Timeline

*June 9, 2005 - The ''Electoral Boundaries and Representation Act'' is introduced in the
Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick The Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick () is the deliberative assembly of the New Brunswick Legislature, in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. The assembly's seat is located in Fredericton. It was established in Saint John ''de jure'' ...
. *June 30, 2005 - The legislation is amended to alleviate Opposition concerns and passes. *July 14, 2005 - The Legislative Administration Committee of the
Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick The Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick () is the deliberative assembly of the New Brunswick Legislature, in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. The assembly's seat is located in Fredericton. It was established in Saint John ''de jure'' ...
meets and agrees to the seven members of the Commission. The names will not be made public until the nominees have agreed to appointment and the cabinet ratifies them. *August 11, 2005 - Government House Leader Brad Green announces that cabinet has approved two co-chairs and five commissioners whose appointments will take effect on August 22. *August 25, 2005 - The Commission concludes its first meeting at which the co-chairs express concern about the short time available for them to complete their report. They also announce that the first round of public hearings will be held in the month of October and that they will soon launch a
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. *September 20, 2005 - The commission announces the details of their first round of public hearings. They will visit 12 communities from October 11 to October 28. *October 11, 2005 - Public hearings to assist the commission in the drafting of its preliminary report begin. *November 21, 2005 - The commission files its preliminary report outlining a proposal for a new electoral map. As expected, there are significant changes to almost all districts, though most are kept as minor as possible with one new district added in each of the
Fredericton Fredericton (; ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. The city is situated in the west-central portion of the province along the Saint John River (Bay of Fundy), Saint John River, ...
and
Moncton Moncton (; ) is the most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, Moncton lies at the geographic centre of the The Maritimes, Maritime Provinces. Th ...
areas and one district lost in each of Charlotte County and the Madawaska- Restigouche area. *February 20, 2006 - The commission files its final report, making changes to 20 of 55 ridings from its preliminary report. Individuals have 14 days to file an appeal to the final report but such an appeal must be signed by 2 members of the legislature. If an appeal is filed, the commission has 30 days to respond. *March 24, 2006 - The commission announces that it received 15 valid notices of appeal within the 14-day public response period; it has reviewed them and completed its work. In the end it makes 3 minor changes to electoral districts. The legislature may now only make recommendations with respect to changing names of electoral districts; the boundaries cannot be changed until after the next census.


Members of the Commission


Co-chairs

* Madam Justice Brigette Robichaud of
Moncton Moncton (; ) is the most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, Moncton lies at the geographic centre of the The Maritimes, Maritime Provinces. Th ...
. Justice Robichaud is a member of the
Court of Queen's Bench of New Brunswick The Court of King's Bench of New Brunswick (in French: ''Cour du Banc du Roi du Nouveau-Brunswick'') is the superior trial court of the Canadian province of New Brunswick. Structure The Court of King's Bench of New Brunswick consists of a ...
. * Madam Justice
Margaret Larlee Margaret is a feminine given name, which means "pearl". It is of Latin origin, via Ancient Greek and ultimately from Old Iranian. It has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular throughout the Middle Ages. It became le ...
of
Fredericton Fredericton (; ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. The city is situated in the west-central portion of the province along the Saint John River (Bay of Fundy), Saint John River, ...
. Justice Larlee was the first woman on the
Court of Appeal of New Brunswick The Court of Appeal of New Brunswick () (frequently referred to as New Brunswick Court of Appeal or NBCA) is the appellate court in the province of New Brunswick. There are five Justices, one Chief Justice, any former judge of the Court of Appeal w ...
, New Brunswick's
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.


Commissioners

* David Brown of Saint John,
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to the
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. * Normand Carrier of
Edmundston Edmundston () is a city in Madawaska County, New Brunswick, Canada. Established in 1850, it had a population of 16,437 as of 2021. On January 1, 2023, Edmundston amalgamated with the village of Rivière-Verte, New Brunswick, Rivière-Verte and ...
, a former vice-president for the Edmundston campus of the
Université de Moncton The Université de Moncton is a Canadian French-language university in New Brunswick. It includes campuses in Edmundston, Moncton, and Shippagan. The university was founded in 1963 following the recommendations of the royal commission on hig ...
. *
Richard Myers Richard Bowman Myers (born 1 March 1942) is a retired United States Air Force General (United States), general who served as the 15th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. As chairman, Myers was the highest ranking uniformed officer of the Unit ...
of
Fredericton Fredericton (; ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. The city is situated in the west-central portion of the province along the Saint John River (Bay of Fundy), Saint John River, ...
, a former vice-president of St. Thomas University and current professor of
political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
at the same institution. * Reginald Paulin of
Lamèque Lamèque () is a former town in Gloucester County, New Brunswick, Canada. It held town status prior to 2023 and is now part of the town of Île-de-Lamèque. Of Amerindian rather than French origin, "Lamèque" comes from the Micmac Elmugwadasik ...
a former mayor and school principal. * Pam Ward of Red Bank First Nation, an active participant in New Brunswick aboriginal
governance Governance is the overall complex system or framework of Process, processes, functions, structures, Social norm, rules, Law, laws and Norms (sociology), norms born out of the Interpersonal relationship, relationships, Social interaction, intera ...
.


Preliminary report

On November 21, 2005, the Commission released its preliminary recommendations for new electoral districts. Despite the fact that the vast majority of existing ridings were outside of the +/- 10% population range, most were retained in the new distribution through minor adjustments to their boundaries. In all, 46 of 55 districts are largely unchanged. There are five essentially new districts, three of which resulting from a merger of previous districts or large parts of previous districts. Only one district was created using the "extraordinary circumstances" clause of the legislation which allows districts to be less than 90% of the provincial average population. This was the district of Tantramar, which is an
anglophone The English-speaking world comprises the 88 countries and territories in which English is an official, administrative, or cultural language. In the early 2000s, between one and two billion people spoke English, making it the largest language ...
area surrounded by water,
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and
francophone The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...
areas. The Commission argued that the only way to maintain a community of interest was to leave the boundaries as they were. The districts of Nigadoo-Chaleur,
Saint John Lancaster Saint John West-Lancaster () is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick The Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick () is the deliberative assembly of the New Brunswick Legislature, in the province of Ne ...
and Saint John Portland were the only others to have no changes whatsoever to their boundaries. These proposals will be taken to the public in a series of hearings in January 2006, and may be subject to change before the commission tables its final report on February 18, 2006. ''† represents a proposal that was altered in the final report''


New districts


Merged districts


Largely unchanged districts

Though these districts were all largely unchanged from their previous form, some new names have been recommended due to subtle community changes as a result of minor boundary changes or for other reasons. These districts are denoted by an asterisk (*).


Final report

The commission released its final report on February 20, 2006. The commission altered the boundaries of 20 of the 55 districts from its proposals in its preliminary report, though many of the changes were minor. It also changed the proposed names of three districts whose boundaries remained the same as in the preliminary report. There was some question as to whether or not these boundaries will be used in the next general election, there has been much media speculation that the government may fall by April 7, 2006 which would be just two days after the period for appeal of the commission's work will have ended. Government House Leader Bev Harrison has suggested that should the government fall then, it would be unlikely for the government to enact the regulation required to finalize the new boundaries so as to prevent confusion for voters and party officials. The Opposition House Leader,
Kelly Lamrock Kelly Lamrock (born February 5, 1970) is a lawyer and political consultant in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. He was previously a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick for Fredericton-Fort Nashwaak, and Minister ...
, has suggested he would agree with such a move. However, Premier Bernard Lord went on to say that the boundaries would be used if at all possible as they are more equitable than the old boundaries

The election was not held, however, until September, and these boundaries were used.


Changes only in the name of the district

*The district proposed as ''Miramichi-Neguac'' will retain its existing name of
Miramichi Bay Miramichi Bay is an estuary located on the west coast of the Gulf of St. Lawrence in New Brunswick, at the mouth of the Miramichi River. Miramichi Bay is separated into the "inner bay" and the "outer bay", with the division being a line of unin ...
. *The district proposed as ''Nashwaaksis'' will be called
Fredericton-Nashwaaksis Fredericton-Nashwaaksis was a provinces and territories of Canada, provincial electoral district (Canada), electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, Canada. It was first created in th ...
to be consistent with the names of the other Fredericton districts. *The district proposed as ''Fredericton-Odell'' will be called Fredericton-Silverwood instead.


Districts with minor boundary changes

*The proposed ''Campbellton'' district, will lose largely unpopulated territory in southern Restigouche County primarily to ensure that Mount Carleton Provincial Park is contained wholly in one district. The name of the district will be changed to
Campbellton-Restigouche Centre Campbellton-Restigouche Centre was a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, Canada. The riding was created as Campbellton in the 1967 redistribution when cities were removed from county districts and is m ...
to reflect its inclusion of communities outside of the immediate area of the city of Campbellton. *The proposed Kent South district undergoes minor changes as a result of more major changes in the
Moncton Moncton (; ) is the most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, Moncton lies at the geographic centre of the The Maritimes, Maritime Provinces. Th ...
and
Dieppe Dieppe (; ; or Old Norse ) is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department, Normandy, northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to Newhaven in England ...
districts. *The proposed Moncton South district undergoes minor changes as a result of changes in neighbouring districts. *The proposed
Moncton North Moncton North () was a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from ...
district undergoes minor changes as a result of changes in neighbouring districts. *The proposed
Moncton Crescent Moncton Northwest () is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, Canada. It was first be contested in the 1995 general election, having been created in the 1994 redistribution of electoral boundaries wit ...
district undergoes minor changes to reflect communities of interest. *The proposed Petitcodiac district undergoes minor changes to reflect communities of interest. *The proposed Saint John-Fundy district undergoes minor changes to reflect communities of interest. *The proposed ''Rothesay-Kings'' district undergoes minor changes to reflect communities of interest and takes on the simplified name of
Rothesay Rothesay ( ; ) is the principal town on the Isle of Bute, in the council area of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies along the coast of the Firth of Clyde. It can be reached by a Caledonian MacBrayne ferry from Wemyss Bay, which also offers an ...
. *The proposed Saint John Harbour district undergoes minor changes as a result of changes in neighbouring districts. *The proposed Saint John Portland district undergoes minor changes as a result of changes in neighbouring districts. *The proposed New Maryland district undergoes minor changes as a result of changes in neighbouring districts. *The proposed ''Grand Falls'' district undergoes minor changes to reflect communities of interest and has its name changed to Grand Falls-Drummond-Saint-André. *The proposed ''Madawaska-Restigouche'' district undergoes minor changes to reflect communities of interest and has its name changed to Restigouche-La-Vallée.


Substantial changes from the preliminary report

*''Dieppe-Memramcook'' losses all but a small portion of Dieppe and takes on the name of
Memramcook-Lakeville-Dieppe Memramcook-Lakeville-Dieppe was a provinces and territories of Canada, provincial electoral district (Canada), electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, Canada. History It was creat ...
to differentiate it from the old
Dieppe-Memramcook Dieppe-Memramcook is a provinces and territories of Canada, provincial electoral district (Canada), electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, Canada. It was known as Memramcook from 1974 to 1994, and renamed Dieppe-Memra ...
riding and also to recognize the addition of the Lakeville community from
Moncton Crescent Moncton Northwest () is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, Canada. It was first be contested in the 1995 general election, having been created in the 1994 redistribution of electoral boundaries wit ...
. *The proposed district of ''Codiac'' is changed significantly and takes on the name of Dieppe Centre. Instead of being a district half of Dieppe and a part of Moncton, it now takes on about 4/5ths of Dieppe and only a small portion of Moncton. *
Moncton East Moncton East () is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, Canada. It was first contested in the 2014 general election, having been created in the 2013 redistribution of electoral boundaries. The di ...
regains most of its territory that was to have gone to the proposed Codiac district. *
York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...
loses most of the territory it was proposed to gain from
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. *
Woodstock The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...
largely retains its existing form despite the original proposal. * Carleton regains most of the territory that was proposed as going to Victoria-Tobique. * Victoria-Tobique gains much less from Carleton County than was proposed.


Appeals to the final report

The legislation governing the electoral district reform process allowed for appeals to the final report which were signed by two members of the legislature. The commission received 15 such appeals. After considering the appeals, the commission discarded most of them saying that the appeals did not provide further justification beyond those arguments that they had already rejected or that accepting the changes would cause a
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requiring a massive redrawing of the boundaries. They did however accept three appeals: * Seal Island had been omitted from the original report and would now be added to the district of
Charlotte-The Isles Fundy-The Isles-Saint John Lorneville () is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, Canada. History The constituency was created as Charlotte-The Isles in 2006 as a result of a merger of the old district ...
*The village of Norton had argued that its
community of interest A community of interest, or interest-based community, is a community of people who share a common interest or passion. These people exchange ideas and thoughts about the given passion, but may know (or care) little about each other outside this a ...
required it to be in the district of Hampton-Belleisle, as it had been originally, as opposed to the district of Kings East as recommended by the commission. The commission decided to place those parts of Norton north of the
Kennebecasis River The Kennebecasis River ( ) is a tributary of the Saint John River in southern New Brunswick, Canada. The name Kennebecasis is thought to be derived from the Mi'kmaq "''Kenepekachiachk''", meaning "little long bay place." It runs for approximately ...
in Hampton-Belleisle and those parts south of the river in Kings East. *The community of Saint-Léonard-Parent was included in the district of Grand Falls-Drummond-Saint-André while Saint-Léonard was in the district of Restigouche-la-Vallée; the appellant argued that both communities should be in the same district. As a result, the commission moved Saint-Léonard-Parent to the district of Restigouche-la-Vallée but this caused the Grand Falls-Drummond-Saint-André district to become too small in terms of population so part of California Settlement was moved from Victoria-Tobique to Grand Falls-Drummond-Saint-André.


District name changes

The ''Electoral Boundaries and Representation Act'' forbade the Legislative Assembly from making any changes to the boundaries of electoral districts, but it did allow MLAs to change their names. On May 12, 2006, the Legislature decided to make several changes as follows:


External links


Commission website

News releases from the commission

Office of the Chief Electoral Officer
{{DEFAULTSORT:New Brunswick Electoral Redistribution, 2006
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Electoral Redistribution Redistribution (re-districting in the United States and in the Philippines) is the process by which electoral districts are added, removed, or otherwise changed. Redistribution is a form of boundary delimitation that changes electoral distr ...