Mediator to hear New Brunswick group’s concerns with electoral map

FREDERICTON – The president of the New Brunswick Acadian Society says the provincial government has agreed to have a mediator hear her group’s concerns over revisions to New Brunswick’s electoral map.

Jeanne d’Arc Gaudet says the new map – released this spring – did not take into account linguistic interests when the number of provincial ridings were reduced to 49 from 55.

Gaudet says the Memramcook area is now in a riding where 70 per cent of the population is francophone, but that drops to 29 per cent in the new riding with Tantramar.

She says her group applied for federal funding to take the matter to court, but the criteria for the money requires that mediation be tried first.

Gaudet says, while details have not been worked out, she expects the mediation hearings will be held in early December.

Requests for comment from the provincial Justice Department were not immediately returned.

The election is set for Sept. 22, 2014.