Montreal city council passed a resolution Monday night slamming Quebec’s plan to change the provincial electoral map.
READ MORE: Electoral map reform worries Montreal borough and municipality mayors
“It’s definitely going to court,” said Marvin Rotrand, the city councillor representing Snowdon.
The changes would go into effect for the next provincial election, merging Outremont and Mont-Royal into one riding.
It would also expand D’Arcy-McGee eastward; the riding is currently 43 per cent Jewish and incorporates the boroughs of Côte Saint-Luc and Hampstead.
READ MORE: Quebec electoral map reform a cause of worry for D’Arcy-McGee MNA
Rotrand argued the change would effectively cut the Orthodox Jewish community in half.
“There will be unequal representation: huge counties or seats in the cities, small seats in the rural areas,” he said.
“People are angry. The ethnic communities are out in force because they think they’re voting weight is diluted.”
Russell Copeman, borough mayor of Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, said he was surprised there were city councillors who seemed to support the changes.
“Since 1992, the island of Montreal has lost seven electoral ridings due to redistribution,” said Copeman, a former provincial politician.
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The changes would cost the island of Montreal one legislative seat, he said.
A grassroots movement by the mayors of five jurisdictions affected by the realigned ridings is already underway to challenge the changes in court.
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