Former Liberal premier Camille Thériault and former Progressive Conservative MP Roger Clinch say they will stick to the letter of the law that requires them to come up with 49 new ridings roughly equal in population. 

"Our mandate is very, very clear. It had absolutely nothing to do with politics, nothing to do with gerrymandering," Thériault said Wednesday as the commission launched its website. "We're there to follow the piece of legislation that has been put in place.

"We will continue to look straight forward and not think or talk politics, but do what's best for New Brunswickers within the legislation that we are under."

Provincial law requires that an independent commission be appointed every 10 years to redraw the 49 electoral districts in the province to reflect changing population numbers.

The new map will take effect for the provincial election scheduled for Oct. 21, 2024, and will have to shift some districts to account for rapid urban growth in the province.

In June, Green MLA Kevin Arseneau alleged the process would involve political trade-offs between the co-chairs to craft ridings beneficial to their former parties.

The three parties in the legislature were asked to suggest names for the commission, but the Green nominees were not chosen because the party refused to have their choices vetted by Premier Blaine Higgs's office, as the PC and Liberal names were.

"The people on the commission are all very well-respected people, I think, and I don't think there's any bias on anyone's part toward any particular party," Clinch said.

The six-member commission will hold 12 in-person public meetings and two virtual sessions to sound out New Brunswickers about the new map starting Aug. 23 and continuing to Sept. 15. 

"People will dictate to us what they think it should be," Clinch said. "We have rules and regulations to follow." 

After the first round of meetings, they'll draft a proposed map that they'll then take out to a second round of consultations before coming up with a final version within 90 days.

The law requires the commission to calculate the average number of voters in each riding, known as the "electoral quotient." Thériault said the figure they'll use is 11,714.

Former Progressive Conservative MP Roger Clinch says the commission has rules to follow in redrawing the electoral map. (GNB)

In the new map, each riding's number of voters must be "as close as reasonably possible" to the quotient, though the commission can deviate by up to 15 per cent to accommodate what are called "communities of interest" and other factors.

In "extraordinary circumstances" such as the need to ensure fair linguistic representation, the commission can deviate from the quotient by up to 25 per cent.

The last redrawing included the creation of Memramcook-Tantramar, which prompted complaints from francophones in the new riding that they were losing their majority-francophone constituency. 

At the time, the law allowed only a five-per cent deviation from the average, so the new commission now has more leeway to put the village in a mostly francophone riding.

"We will probably hear from the people in Memramcook," Thériault said. "But I'm not prejudging how they feel 10 years later."

Thériault said ideally he'd like to "tighten" some of the sprawling rural ridings in the province, such as Southwest Miramichi–Bay du Vin, which can take more than two hours to drive from end to end. 

He also mentioned the expanded footprint of St. Mary's First Nation in Fredericton, divided between two provincial ridings, as an example of the "housekeeping" the commission may do when it considers "communities of interest."

But he said the commission isn't going in with any fixed assumptions and will be guided by the goal of getting as close as possible to the quotient. 

"What we're saying is that we will take into consideration what New Brunswickers have to say," he said.

"We will be very transparent. And the ultimate goal here is to try and achieve the 11,714 electors for a riding, which we know probably is impossible to do."

Last weekend newly elected Liberal Leader Susan Holt said she would wait to see the new map before deciding where she'll run in the next provincial election. In 2018 Holt was defeated as a candidate in Fredericton South by Green Leader David Coon.

Thériault said those considerations won't matter to the commission. 

"The redrawing of the electoral map will not be done to provide seats to anyone or any party," he said. "It will be done in the best interests of New Brunswick."

Roger Clinch, a former Bathurst mayor and one-term Progressive Conservative MP for Gloucester will-co chair the commission with former Liberal premier Camille Thériault.

Two weeks ago, Green MLA Kevin Arseneau accused the PCs and Liberals of "collusion" in coming up with a list of appointees that excluded names chosen by his party.

The other appointees are: 

• Josée Rioux-Walker, deputy mayor of Drummond and a project co-ordinator for the Women in Leadership initiative for Women in Business New Brunswick.
• Krista Ross, CEO of the Frederiction Chamber of Commerce.
• Emily Teed, chief of staff to the Atlantic regional managing partner for Deloitte.
• Roger Ouellette, a political scientist at the University of Moncton.

Provincial law requires a redistricting of the election map every 10 years to account for shifting population figures.

Under the law, the all-party legislative administration committee chooses the commissioners, and the provincial cabinet must appoint its selections.

Green concerns

Arseneau said earlier this month that Premier Blaine Higgs's chief of staff, Louis Léger, asked the Greens for names so they could be reviewed.

The Green MLA said he refused to provide names to the Premier's Office to review, because the law only mentions the legislative committee's role in picking names.

Instead, Arseneau put forward two names chosen by the Greens at the June 9 committee meeting. But he said he was rebuffed, and the six names chosen by the PCs and Liberals were adopted.

The lack of other appointees could allow PCs and Liberals to make tradeoffs as they redraw the riding map.

Green MLA Kevin Arseneau accused the PCs and Liberals of 'collusion' in coming up with a list of appointees that excluded names chosen by his party. (Jacques Poitras/CBC News)

The electoral boundaries law sets out a process that calculates the average number of voters in each of the province's 49 ridings, known as the "electoral quotient."

The commissioners are required to draft a map in which ridings are "as close as reasonably possible" to the quotient. They can deviate by up to 15 per cent to accommodate what are called "communities of interest" and other factors.

And in "extraordinary circumstances" such as the need to ensure fair linguistic representation, the commission can deviate from the quotient by up to 25 per cent.

The legislation requires the commission be in place two years before the next provincial election, which is scheduled for Oct. 21, 2024.

Higgs had mused after becoming premier about reducing the number of ridings from 49. But that would have taken an amendment to the Elections Act, and his government did not act on that.

The Green Party is denouncing what it calls "collusion" and "gerrymandering" after it was excluded from a supposedly independent commission that will redraw New Brunswick's 49 election ridings.

The decision means a group of six Progressive Conservatives and Liberals will craft a new electoral map with no input from the third party in the legislature.

"It undermines the whole process," said Green MLA and house leader Kevin Arseneau. "It undermines public confidence and the credibility of our role as parliamentarians and the institutions that we have in place." 

Arseneau said the six people, whom he would not identify, are "very tied to political parties," including a former premier and a prominent PC supporter who will co-chair the commission. 

That taints the process, he said.

"There will always be a doubt now … and just that is unacceptable."

Integrity of commission questioned

Even Premier Blaine Higgs acknowledged that it's a "fair comment" that people who vote for parties other than PCs and Liberals may question the integrity of the commission.

Provincial law requires that an independent commission redraw the 49 electoral districts in the province every 10 years to reflect changing population numbers.

Arseneau tried to raise the issue in the legislature Friday, but Speaker Bill Oliver cut him off, saying he was on the verge of revealing information from a closed-door meeting of the legislative administration committee.

Under the law, LAC chooses the commissioners and the provincial cabinet must appoint its selections.

New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs acknowledged Friday that the lack of Green representation on the commission redrawing electoral boundaries could raise questions about the integrity of the process. (CBC News)

Arseneau says several weeks ago, the premier's chief of staff Louis Léger asked the Greens for names so they could be reviewed.

The Green MLA said he refused because it's up to LAC to choose the names. The law makes no mention of the executive branch being able to review the choices. 

He also said the Liberals were complicit in going along with the PCs.

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"It's very clear that it was the premier's office and Louis Léger who chose the people are are going to be on this commission by back-door deals with the official opposition," Arseneau said.

"And basically we got punished for not playing the back-door deal," he said.

He said he wasn't elected MLA for Kent North "to come here and rubber-stamp the deals the PCs and the Liberals do together."

Commissioners 'highly credible'

Liberal Leader Roger Melanson refused to discuss the LAC meeting on Thursday, where Arseneau tried to get the Green Party's two names added to the commission.

But he confirmed that the Liberals submitted proposed names to Léger for review before the meeting.

He said he was satisfied the public will have no reason to question the integrity of the redistricting process.

"To my knowledge, the decision was made in compliance with the law," he said.

"LAC made a decision and I'm confident … that the commissioners will do a very good job. They're highly credible and qualified." 

Liberal Leader Roger Melanson said the Liberals agreed to submit the names of MLAs to sit on the commission for review by the premier’s office. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)

He also refused to name them or to say whether the ex-premier co-chairing the commission is a Liberal. 

Arseneau told reporters he doesn't know for sure that there will be any PC-Liberal collusion, but he could imagine tradeoffs between the two parties, where parts of one riding are cut off and moved to benefit one party in return for changes elsewhere that help the other.

Higgs said he couldn't imagine any effort to dilute the Green vote through the new map.

"There's no reason for us, speaking from our side, to disadvantage the Green Party. I don't see that's the process we're trying to unfold," he said.

Higgs did suggest the process may need to be reviewed to take into account that third parties have won more support and elected more MLAs in recent elections.

New map to be in place by 2024

The last time the map was redrawn under the law, the PCs and Liberals were the only parties in the legislature.

Higgs said the appointments to the commission are on his cabinet's agenda for next week.

The electoral boundaries law sets out a process that calculates the average number of voters in each of the province's 49 ridings, known as the "electoral quotient."

The commissioners are required to draft a map in which ridings are "as close as reasonably possible" to the quotient. They can deviate by up to 15 per cent to accommodate what are called "communities of interest" and other factors.

And in "extraordinary circumstances" such as the need to ensure fair linguistic representation, the commission can deviate from the quotient by up to 25 per cent.

The legislation requires the commission be in place two years before the next provincial election, which is scheduled for Oct. 21, 2024.

Arseneau's complaint about the commission came on the final sitting day of the legislature before it adjourned for the summer. 

Among the pieces of legislation that received royal assent on Friday were a one-year cap on rents charged to tenants and an overhaul of the child protection system.