The interim report states there should continue to be 52 members in the House of Assembly. However, a majority of commissioners felt two new constituencies should be added the Halifax area to accommodate population growth. The report discusses removing on constituency from urban Cape Breton and another from mainland Nova Scotia.
In this region of the province Commission recommends that the constituencies of Yarmouth, Argyle, Clare and Shelburne remain unchanged. The commission says the constituency of Queens should be further expanded into Lunenburg West to create the new constituency of Queens-Lunenburg West. The remainder of Lunenburg West to be renamed Lunenburg Centre.
It says that Queens also be expanded into Digby-Annapolis to take in communities that are adjacent to interior communities of Queens.
You can read the interim report by clicking here.
The interim report was submitted and released on June 1, in keeping with the mandate given to the commission by the House Select Committee.
Commission members were appointed at the end of December to establish not more than 52 seats and maximize parity of voting power. The commission was asked that all constituencies be within 25 per cent of the average number of electors.
It was asked to provide advice on how legislators can address concerns about the size of geographic areas, community history and interests, and linguistic and cultural diversity, noting the Acadian and African-Nova Scotian populations.
A wide range of views and interests were presented during the public consultations in March and April.
"The key issues confronting the commission today are essentially those that challenged the two previous commissions," said commission chair Teresa MacNeil. "They are the status of 'protected constituencies', achieving relative voter parity to the extent possible, and population shifts requiring adjustment."
The next round of public consultations, which begin June 6 in Antigonish. This second round of consultations sees meetings also being held in Sydney, Cornwallis, Bridgewater, Halifax and Dartmouth.
