There was a good turnout, but few questions or comments during a recent meeting of the P.E.I. Electoral Boundaries Commission, in Summerside.
More than 30 people attended the meeting, which was meant to gather public input into two proposed new, 18 district, electoral maps, but only a handful made any sort of comment.
Some of those who did make a comment seemed confused as to exactly what the purpose of the meeting was. Others asked questions related to the maps, such as what they would look like with a different number of districts, other than 18, but the commission said that question, along with a few others like it, were outside its mandate.
“I don’t think we can go there as our assignment is simply to draw the 18 (districts). We have no mandate to go to 20 or 21, even to see what it looks like. Our instructions are ‘produce a map of 18,” said Gerard Mitchell, chairman of the commission.
A referendum on electoral reform is scheduled to take place in conjunction with the next provincial election. The meeting, the second of four that have been scheduled across the province, was meant to showcase two proposed electoral maps representing what P.E.I.’s ridings could look like under a mixed member proportional (MMP) representation system.
MMP was the preferred system of Islanders who participated in the 2016 plebiscite on electoral reform. The province has proposed that if the Island switches to that electoral system, that 18 districts would be chosen via first past the post, just like they are now, with another nine MLAs chosen from party lists.
There are some notable differences between the two sample maps, including the scope of the predominantly Acadian District 16, how Summerside is divided up and whether District 14, which includes parts of Summerside, will stretch east or west.
Mitchell asked those at the meeting for an informal show of hands as to which map they preferred and a vast majority indicated Sample Map 2 as their choice.
The commission is scheduled to submit its final report to the province in time for the spring sitting of the legislature. Until then, the public can see the maps and submit comments either at one of the meetings or online at www.electoralboundaries.pe.ca.
The next public meeting is scheduled for Feb. 26 at Morrell Regional High School, starting at 6:30 p.m. The last meeting is set for Feb. 28 in Elmsdale, at Westisle Composite High School at 6:30 p.m.
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