Hon. Pierre J. Dalphond moved second reading of Bill S-207, An Act to change the name of the electoral district of Châteauguay—Lacolle.

He said: Honourable senators, I will not take as long as I did to talk about the bill on judicial discipline, which is a far more complex topic than the one I will speak to now for a few minutes.

Honourable senators, today I am pleased to undertake second reading of Bill S-207, An Act to change the name of the electoral district of Châteauguay—Lacolle.

This little bill has two short clauses and would finally act on the will of the House of Commons, which in 2018 passed a private member’s bill that had been introduced by MP Brenda Shanahan in 2017 to fix an error made in 2013 by the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for the Province of Quebec that has since been criticized by constituents in my senatorial division, De Lorimier.

Unfortunately, after being introduced in the Senate by our former colleague, Senator André Pratte, this bill died on the Order Paper in June 2019 while being considered by the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee, to which it had been referred seven months earlier on November 22, 2018.

The members in the other place fixed this error more than three years ago, but the Senate did not.

Allow me to explain this error by providing some historical context on the Senate division of De Lorimier, which I am honoured to represent in the Senate.

As you all know, in 1867, Quebec, known then as Lower Canada or Canada East, was divided into 24 electoral divisions with precise geographical boundaries, much like the 54 ridings at the time. This was done to facilitate the election of senators and is not seen elsewhere in Canada.

[English]

As you may know, the parliament of the Province of Canada, created by the Union Act of 1840, had two houses: the legislative assembly and the legislative council. The latter was the upper house of the united parliament. In 1854, in response to a request from Canadians, the British Parliament adopted a bill that authorized the election of the legislative councillors, and in 1856, implementation legislation was passed by the parliament of the Province of Canada. Pursuant to this legislation, the new members of the legislative council were to be elected for eight-year terms from 48 divisions: 24 in Upper Canada and 24 in Lower Canada. Twelve members were elected every two years from 1856 to 1862. As you know, Sir John A. Macdonald and Sir George-Étienne Cartier were not very keen on having elected senators. They thought this would be detrimental to the status of elected MPs. Of note, since 1914 — since the ratification of the seventeenth amendment in the U.S. — all U.S. senators have been chosen by direct popular election. This resulted in a transformation of the relationship between the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives. That has resulted in the real power being in the Senate.

In Canada, to avoid upsetting the elected members of the then upper house of the united parliament, Sir John A. Macdonald wisely suggested to the Crown in 1867 that they appoint nearly all of them to the new Canadian Senate.

In other words, most of the first senators appointed to this chamber had been previously elected. This could be of interest to those who were recently elected by Albertans to represent them in this chamber and now wish to submit their names to the advisory committee on Senate appointments, in order to be considered for appointment to the Senate. In their letter, they should refer to the 1867 precedent.

[Translation]

The 24 senatorial divisions in Quebec correspond to the 24 divisions created to elect 24 councillors to the legislative council in 1856. In accordance with section 22 of the Constitution Act, 1867, even today, Quebec senators are appointed for each one of these 24 divisions, unlike the situation in Ontario. Because Quebec’s area has increased since 1856, part of modern Quebec does not have Senate representation.

At present, my Senate division includes three electoral ridings: Saint-Jean, Châteauguay—Lacolle and Salaberry—Suroît.

Additionally, in my beautiful Senate division, there are three places with the name Lacolle: the municipality of Lacolle, the site of two battles that took place during the War of 1812, with a population of about 3,000; the municipality of Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle, with a population of 1,600; and one of the busiest border crossings in the country, Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle, which is located a few kilometres from an equally well-known crossing, Roxham Road, which is used by people wanting to illegally enter Canada to claim political asylum or for family reunification purposes without being turned away as they would be at a regular border crossing.

The two municipalities, both proud of their distinct history and their current circumstances, are located just 11 kilometres apart and near the border with the state of New York. In the minds of people from outside the region, there has always been some confusion between these two municipalities.

What is more, most people who cross the border into the United States, and even the media, refer to the customs station in Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle as the Lacolle border crossing.

The confusion was compounded in 2013 when the redrawn federal riding in my senatorial division was named Châteauguay—Lacolle.

Châteauguay is the main municipality in the area, so it is only natural that it would be part of the name of the riding represented by Ms. Shanahan, who was first elected in 2015 and has since been re-elected twice, including this October, with a slim majority of 12 votes following a judicial recount that ousted an adversary who had been declared the winner on election night.

However, the municipality of Lacolle is not part of that riding, so adding it to the riding name is a mistake. That municipality is actually located in the adjacent riding of Saint-Jean, which has been represented since 2019 by MP Christine Normandin, a respected lawyer I have had the pleasure of collaborating with.

In other words, the commission responsible for electoral redistribution in 2013 made a mistake when it added the “Lacolle.” The new riding could have been called Châteauguay—Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle, but not Châteauguay—Lacolle.

The members who reviewed the commission’s work missed this mistake at the time. People in my senatorial division did pick up on it, however. The people of Lacolle, Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle and other parts of my division reported the mistake to the candidates running in the 2015, 2019 and 2021 elections.

In fact, during the 2015 election campaign, Ms. Shanahan committed to changing the riding name. Once she was elected, she introduced a bill in the other place to change the name Châteauguay—Lacolle to Châteauguay—Les Jardins-de-Napierville. This bill, Bill C-377, was adopted.

This new name emerged from extensive discussions with residents, mayors and regional stakeholders. The name Châteauguay—Les Jardins-de-Napierville was a logical and meaningful choice for several reasons.

First, Jardins-de-Napierville is the name of the RCM, or regional county municipality, that includes 9 of the 15 municipalities in the riding called “Châteauguay—Lacolle.”

Second, the largest city, Châteauguay, is on the northwestern edge of the riding, while the Jardins-de-Napierville RCM includes the nine municipalities in the southeastern part of the riding.

Third, the Jardins-de-Napierville RCM, whose beauty is reflected in the word “jardins,” meaning gardens, is Quebec’s top market gardening region, for which it has earned quite a reputation as well as a prominent place on Quebecers’ dinner plates.

Fourth, the name Châteauguay—Les Jardins-de-Napierville reflects the part urban, part rural character of the riding.

In short, the name proposed in the 2016 bill is uncontroversial. Quite the opposite: All the mayors in the region support the name change, and several hundred people even signed a petition urging us to pass the bill in 2017.

Lastly, the name “Châteauguay—Les Jardins-de-Napierville” meets all the technical criteria set by Elections Canada.

In May 2018, Ms. Shanahan’s Bill C-377 was introduced in the Senate, sponsored by our former colleague André Pratte. Well aware of the situation, Senators Pratte, Dawson and Carignan rose in this chamber on behalf of the three groups represented in the Senate and spoke in favour of the bill at second reading stage. No one spoke against it.

However, the bill was only passed by the Senate at second reading stage on November 22, 2018, and was then referred to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee for what we hoped would be a short, quick study.

Unfortunately, as this was a private member’s bill and not a government bill, it could not be studied by the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee in the seven months that followed, because the committee was very busy studying government bills, including the numerous amendments to the Access to Information Act and the Criminal Code, as honourable senators will recall.

Today I propose that we finish the work that was interrupted in June 2019 by referring this bill to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee, which could quickly proceed to a study that I believe will be rather short.

Having said that, some may wonder if it is still necessary to correct the mistake made in 2013, now that we have electoral boundaries commissions, which fulfill the constitutional obligation to review riding boundaries after every 10-year census.

The redistribution process defined in the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act could lead to changes in the boundaries of three ridings in my Senate division and possibly new designations. To answer this legitimate question, I have to point out several things.

First, the boundaries commissions will start their work in mid-February 2022, when Statistics Canada publishes the population numbers from the 2021 census. Then there will be the publication of a proposal on electoral boundaries for each province, prepared by the relevant boundaries commission. Next, there will be public hearings and reports that should be submitted to the Speaker of the House of Commons around mid-December 2022, although that deadline could be extended by two months. The reports will therefore be sent to the House of Commons toward the end of 2022 or the beginning of 2023.

These reports will then be referred to a House of Commons committee, where objections signed by at least 10 members may be filed within 30 days. The committee then has to study the objections received in the 30-day period and draft a report that will be transmitted to the relevant boundaries commissions.

So ends the parliamentary phase set out in the legislation, while adding at least two months to the process.

It will then be up to each of the commissions that received objections to determine if there is good reason to change the boundaries or names of ridings before submitting a final report to the Speaker of the House of Commons, care of the Chief Electoral Officer. That step should be completed in May or June 2023.

The Chief Electoral Officer will then prepare a representation order describing the electoral districts established by the commissions and send it to the government, which is supposed to pass an order-in-council within five days of receipt. This step should be completed in September 2023 or the month after.

Lastly, pursuant to the act, the order-in-council will become effective on the first dissolution of Parliament that occurs at least seven months after the date fixed by the proclamation, which would be April 2024 at the earliest, or possibly May or June 2024.

In short, Canada’s new electoral map, including the boundaries and designations of the 342 ridings, 77 of them in Quebec, not 78 anymore, would not apply until a general election called after April or May 2024 at the earliest.

Had the October 2021 election produced a majority government, we might conclude that there’s no point fixing the historical error in the name of the riding represented by Brenda Shanahan. However, she says her bill is still necessary.

Indeed, the probability that the constituents in the federal riding of Châteauguay—Lacolle will return to the polls in a general election called before April or May 2024 cannot be ruled out.

In that situation, voters should not be asked to vote again to elect a member of Parliament who will represent a misnamed riding for a few more years. In short, it would be wise to finally pass this bill, and I urge everyone to do so as soon as possible.

Thank you. Meegwetch.

[English]

Hon. Pierre J. Dalphond: Honourable senator, will you take a question?