Establishing Effective Representation and a Protected District for Anglophones in Brome-Missisquoi

The author remarks that Anglophones of Brome-Missisquoi once had a strong regional identity. She notes that the community presently is on the decline, which perpetuates the loss of representation in Quebec’s political institutions. Inspired by the concept of “consociational districting”, the purpose of the author's thesis is to explain how Anglophones in Brome-Missisquoi can be effectively represented in Quebec politics. Following the theory of path dependency, the author argues that the legal cases of Saskatchewan v Carter (1991), Raîche v. Canada (2004) and the Acadian Nova Scotia electoral boundary case (2012) establish the legal jurisprudence for Anglo-Quebecers to acquire institutional protection as guaranteed in Section 3 of the Canadian Charter and through the provisions to protect communities of interest in both federal and provincial electoral commission laws. She points out that the solutions to guarantee the effective representation of Anglophones include: establishing a protected electoral district for Anglophones in Brome-Missisquoi, increasing the seat capacity in Quebec’s National Assembly, and appointing more diverse members to Quebec’s Electoral Boundary Commission.

Master's Thesis

Dalhousie University

Halifax, NS

2020

viii-113p.

en