FREDERICTON, N.B. – A proposed new provincial electoral map reduces the number of electoral districts while aiming to provide effective representation for all residents.
The independent Electoral Boundaries and Representation Commission, selected by the all-party legislative administration committee, released its preliminary report today.
“We were able to reduce the number of districts and create a new electoral map for New Brunswick that maintains balanced representation for all regions,” said co-chair Annise Hebért Hollies. “We did not see a case where it was necessary to depart from the principal of voter parity due to exceptional circumstances.”
The commission was mandated to reduce the number of provincial ridings from the current 55 to 49. It used the voter registry provided by Elections NB to come as close as possible the quotient of 11,269 electors in each riding.
Following today's filing of its preliminary report the commission now has 90 days to prepare its final report. The recommendations contained with the preliminary report will be open to review as the commission conducts a second round of public hearings to be held soon.
“We have presented a new electoral map that fairly distributes the reduction in the overall number of electoral districts across all regions of the province,” said commission co-chair Allan Maher. “We encourage residents to share their views when we do our next round of consultations.”
The preliminary report is available on the commission's website.
Following is the schedule for the second round of public hearings for the Electoral Boundaries and Representation Commission. The meetings will be held from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and again from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at each location.
● Feb.17, Caraquet, Super 8 Caraquet
● Feb. 18, Bathurst, Atlantic Host Hotel, Salon B
● Feb. 19, Campbellton, Howard Johnson Hotel
● Feb. 20, Edmundston, Best Western Plus Hotel
● Feb. 21, Grand Falls, Quality Inn Près du Lac
● Feb. 25, Bouctouche, J.K. Irving Centre, Guy A. Richard Hall
● Feb. 26, Sackville, Tantramar Veterans Memorial Civic Centre
● Feb. 27, Moncton, Casino New Brunswick Hotel, Monte Carlo Room
● March 1, Miramichi, Rodd Miramichi River Hotel
● March 4, Saint John, Delta Brunswick Hotel, Ballroom C
● March 5, Woodstock, Best Western Plus Hotel, Grafton Room
● March 6, Fredericton, Delta Fredericton Hotel, Governors Room A
