Saskatchewan Conservative MPs who argued last week against proposals to redraw current federal electoral boundaries largely followed the Gospel According to David Marit.
Marit, president of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities and one of three members of the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for the province, filed an unprecedented dissenting minority report opposing the recommendation of fellow commissioners John Courtney and judge Ronald Mills.
They proposed five strictly urban ridings in Saskatoon and Regina, three mixed ridings and six large rural ridings.
“I strongly disagree,” Marit wrote before outlining a series of complaints, including the potential for voter alienation if they are moved to a new riding, destruction of traditional “communities of interest” between rural and urban communities and creation of unwieldy large rural constituencies.
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The six Conservative MPs who asked the House of Commons procedures and House affairs committee to return the report to the commission for reconsideration leaned heavily on Marit’s criticisms.
“The biggest concern I have is growing voter apathy,” said agriculture minister and Battlefords-Lloydminster MP Gerry Ritz, echoing a Marit point.
Yorkton-Melville MP Garry Breitkreuz said his major concern was the loss of clout for the agricultural voice if five strictly urban ridings are formed.
Add to that the creation of 30 new urban and suburban ridings in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec before the next election and the next Parliament would have a weakened farm influence, he added.
“Creating distinctly urban and rural ridings in this province will undoubtedly diminish the strong voice that our agricultural sector currently enjoys,” Breitkreuz told the committee.
“When the head of an organization like (SARM) strongly disagrees with these proposed electoral boundary changes, I take notice.”
Regina Liberal Ralph Goodale, the lone opposition MP in the province, told the committee the proposal to create exclusive urban ridings simply reflects the urbanization trend in the booming province.
He said urban and rural can work together but they have different perspectives.
“They need to work well together, but each has a distinctive voice that must be heard in its own right,” he said. “It’s fundamental to fairness in our democracy.”
Critics suggest that the Conservatives’ opposition to the plan is based mainly on their concerns that the boundary changes could give the NDP a chance to win urban ridings in Saskatchewan for the first time since 2000.
However, MPs largely avoided discussion of the possible political ramifications.
The committee is expected to table a report on the proposed electoral changes by the end of April.
Marit said in an interview he hopes the report will be sent back to the commission to consider the criticisms and hopefully make some changes.
“I think there is an opportunity to satisfy everyone with some largely urban ridings and more manageable rural ridings,” he said.
Under the law, the commission has the final word and the new boundaries will take effect for the 2015 election.
