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HALIFAX — The head of Nova Scotia's Electoral Boundaries Commissionis taking issue with reports suggesting the independent body isheaded back to the drawing board when it comes to four so-calledprotected ridings. Teresa MacNeil says the commission accepts it will have to shed apreliminary recommendation that the ridings, each with an unusuallysmall number of voters, should remain as they are to protect theinfluence of their black and Acadian voters. However, MacNeil says that doesn't mean the commission is preventedfrom ensuring the minorities in those ridings are given some levelof accommodation. "It's not that we're going back to the drawing board," she said inan interview late Wednesday. "As a group, we wish to continue withour work." The ridings of Argyle, Clare and Richmond each have a significantcontingent of Acadians among the voting population. The riding ofPreston is considered an African Nova Scotian riding. The overallpopulation of each riding has been kept small over the years toensure the minority groups retain influence on election day. Both opposition parties have supported the retention of theprotected ridings, saying they preserve the rights of minoritygroups in the province. Earlier this week, the commission came under fire from PremierDarrell Dexter, who said the eight-member group had violated itsterms of reference, one of which states that the number of votersin every riding must come within 25 per cent of the overallaverage. MacNeil says the commission will move on to the next phase of itswork, which includes public hearings that are sure to includediscussions about the special ridings and their role inrepresenting black and Acadian voters. "It's not that we are reconsidering," she said. "It's that we'regoing to work with the public to see what revisions might achieve.. the requirement for voter parity, which is the whole purpose ofthis effort." The commission has until Aug. 31 to submit a final report. MacNeil said none of the commissioners had been approached byDexter or any representatives of his government. However, she saidall members were aware of his comments through the media. "We have paid great attention to the terms of reference," she said."(But) we took the view that we could not meet that term (on the 25per cent rule). It's not that we ignored it or that we challengedit -- we've just taken that view." The chairwoman said it's now clear that the government might notaccept that position. However, she said it would be wrong for the commission to simplytell voters in the four ridings that the boundaries will simply bechanged to meet the 25 per cent requirement. "It's not exactly the way you want to deal with a conscious andthoughtful public in the province of Nova Scotia," she said. "We'regoing to see if there's another way to achieve this." In the 10 years since the province's electoral boundaries were lastreviewed, population shifts have led to over-representation forsome and under-representation for others. The rural district of Argyle, for example, has 6,372 voters, whilethe suburban district of Bedford-Birch Cove is roughly three timesthe size with 20,550 voters. The NDP government has said that a key principle of representativedemocracy is that constituencies should be roughly equal in size.As well, the NDP has said the boundaries could be changed withouteliminating the ridings themselves. In all, there are 14 constituencies that are either too big or toosmall to keep their current boundaries. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as Self Balancing Scooter , China IP Network Cameras for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Personal GPS Trackers.
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