The committee is aware of the absence of any Electoral Boundaries Commission legislation within the present Territory. The enactment of such legislation is required.
The legislation should be based, in part, upon that used earlier for this purpose in the NWT. Consideration, however, should be given to:
- • preparing and releasing an Electoral Boundaries Commission interim report to allow for public discussion before issuing a final report; and
- • establishing a definite time period for boundaries commission reviews, such as after every second territorial election.
Practices followed in other jurisdictions may be looked to for guidelines in this respect.
The criteria to be used by the commission for the purpose of recommending electoral district boundaries should provide the maximum flexibility possible. This is to ensure effective representation for the smaller communities, including non-tax-based municipalities and recognition of the responsibilities of MLAs as both ombudsmen and legislators.
The criteria contained in section 11 of the former Electoral Boundaries Commissions Act remain relevant and should be included:
11. The commission, in preparing its report, shall take into consideration:
(a) geographic and demographic considerations, including the sparsity, density or rate of growth of the population of any part of the Territory and the accessibility, size or shape of any part of the Territory;
(b) any special community or diversity of interests of the inhabitants of any part of the Territory;
(c) the means of communication among various parts of the Territory;
(d) the minimum and maximum number of Members of the Legislative Assembly authorized by the Northwest Territories Act;
(e) any guidelines or criteria proposed for the consideration of the commission by resolution of the Legislative Assembly; and
(f) any other similar and relevant factors that the commission considers appropriate.
The committee, while reviewing provincial and territorial practices in other Canadian jurisdictions, observed that some provinces have allowed through legislation for some deviation for exceptional circumstances from the 25 percent rule. The committee is of the view that the new legislation dealing with establishing electoral districts should allow for some deviation under exceptional circumstances.
The above criteria should be reviewed for comprehensiveness and to ensure that the following are included:
- transportation arrangements;
- cultural and linguistic relations;
- total population and population of voting age;
- the boundaries of municipalities;
- the boundaries of self-government agreement areas;
- the boundaries of land claim settlement areas; and
- information obtained through public hearings.
The committee did not receive any definite requests for an immediate Electoral Boundaries Commission and therefore does not recommend that one be established before the election of the 15th Assembly. The committee considers, however, that a commission will likely be required before the election of the 16th Assembly.