No MNA for Nunavik — yet

It’s official: the new electoral map of Quebec leaves Nunavik within the present riding of Ungava.

This means Nunavik won’t have its own member in Quebec’s national assembly in the foreseeable future.

Despite extensive lobbying from Nunavik leaders — and promises from Parti Québécois politicians, Nunavik will remain part of the sprawling Ungava riding until the next electoral review in 10 years or until a special law is passed changing the riding’s boundaries.

Instead of removing Nunavik from the riding, Quebec’s electoral review commission decided to add more francophone communities to the southern portion of Ungava.

It justified this decision in an official publication on the new electoral map.

In fact, the electoral commissioners considered the option of redistributing the territory included in Ungava into the ridings of Abitibi or Saguenay-Lac St. Jean. That’s because the voting population of the Ungava riding, 22,593, falls under the provincial norm of 42,713.

“Due to the large distances, the lack of roads between municipalities located around the riding’s boundaries, plans for development projects and the possibility of a chain reaction that would affect neighbouring jurisdictions, the commission had no other choice than to maintain the Ungava riding’s exceptional status.”

The commission’s final report didn’t mention whether the option of carving out a new riding for Nunavik had received any serious attention at all.