The Fédération acadienne de la Nouvelle Écosse will make their case for a separate electoral district for Chéticamp in court soon.
This comes after the 2019 release of an electoral boundaries commission report on the reinstatement of historical ridings in the province, which the Federation had requested several years before.
The commission recommended the restoration of two Acadian ridings on the mainland: Argyle and Clare and Richmond
The commission didn’t include Chéticamp in its recommendations.
Deveau says the federation’s issue isn’t really with the provincial government, but with the commission’s treatment and decision of the request.
“That the government accepted the commission’s report: well, we feel that they did what they had to do,” Deveau says “We’re not asking the government to gerrymander in any way. That’s not our request at all. We just want the people of Chéticamp to be treated fairly.”
The federation has been preparing their case for two years, Deveau says. They hope to have the commissions work re-evaluated or re-done.
Chéticamp is currently part of the riding of Inverness, but Deveau says the area’s French population ought to have their own riding as they have specific needs.
In addition to all the challenges a rural riding typically faces, Chéticamp is also struggling to maintain French language and culture, while not having French representation, Deveau says.
Ultimately the commission didn’t recommend Chéticamp because of it’s low population, Deveau notes, making this an argument of voter parity versus effective representation.
“We want to help that community flourish, become bigger and stronger and contribute that much more to our province,” Deveau says “And we feel that this is one of the tools they need to contribute fully to our society.”
The federation’s hearing date is expected to be set for July 9, 2021 in Port Hawkesbury court. ‘
While Deveau doesn’t think Chéticamp will have it’s own electoral district by the upcoming election, he hopes to see a seat in the legislature for the area by the following election.
