The Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Quebec released a report on the results of public consultations for the future of the federal riding of Pontiac, as well as the surrounding area in the Outaouais region.

The newly revised borders of the riding, to be implemented sometime in 2024/ 2025, will now include the entirety of the MRCs Pontiac and La-Vallée-de-la-Gatineau and about half of the MRC Collines-de-l’Outaouais, including the municipalities of Pontiac (MoP), La Pêche, Chelsea and Cantley.

Val-des-Monts will be transferred from the riding of Pontiac and into the electoral district of Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation. District 13 of the City of Gatineau (Carrefour-de-l’Hôpital) will also be transferred to Hull from Pontiac. The riding of Pontiac will still include some areas on the northern outskirts of the City of Gatineau.

The commission said these changes will decrease the riding’s population to 111,138 people. This is down from 129,781 people the riding currently represents, a population 19 per cent above the provincial average for ridings.

The creation of the riding Les Pays-d’en-Haut in the Laurentians region and the relatively high population of the riding of Pontiac were two reasons cited by the commission for making the boundary changes.

The commission also accepted the proposed name change of the riding, which will become Pontiac—Kitigan Zibi.

“The addition of the geographical name Kitigan Zibi to the district name reflects the presence of the Algonquin Anishinabeg First Nation in the territory,” according to the report announcing the results.

Pontiac MP Sophie Chatel wrote in a press release that she was pleased with how the boundary changes went, with the public coming together to convince the commission to reject a proposal that would have seen the riding be divided into three parts.

“It properly considers the communities of interest and their attachment to the Outaouais region, while respecting the administrative boundaries of the municipalities and the MRCs and, in the case of the City of Gatineau, those of its neighbourhoods and electoral districts, while at the same time adhering to the principle whereby the vote of each elector is of equal weight,” Chatel wrote.

You can read the entire report at https://redecoupage-redistribution-2022.ca/com/qc/rprt/index_e.aspx

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