September 17, 2025
Dear Editor,
As a follow-up to your front-page article on September 3rd, we’d like to briefly explain why there’s a small group of volunteers who have stepped forward over the last several years to help protect the Acadian culture in Northern Inverness County.
First, a brief history:
This all started in 1992 when the province established its first Electoral Boundaries Commission, which recommended the creation of four protected ridings; one Black riding for Preston and three Acadian ridings for Argyle, Clare and Richmond, but refused one for Chéticamp and greater area. The three subsequent Commissions in or about 2001, 2011 and 2019 also refused to recommend the Acadian area as a protected riding.
Two court challenges were filed against the province, one following the 1992 decision and another one in 2023. The latter went to the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia where Justice Muise stated in his decision rendered November 12th, 2024, that the province had 20 months to re-establish a new commission to redo its work or all ridings in Nova Scotia would be null and void by July 2026.
Now we find ourselves in 2025 with a new Electoral Boundaries Commission that visited Inverness, Port Hawkesbury and Chéticamp earlier this summer and released its interim report on August 29th. In the report, it mentions the status quo – the riding of Inverness County remains unchanged – plus two new options for electoral boundaries for northern Inverness County: 1) From Doyle’s Bridge on East Margaree Road up to the northern tip of Inverness County; and 2) All of the Margarees up to the Northern tip of Inverness County.
Here’s why this group of volunteers is in favour of a new protected riding for the northern part of Inverness County, which is heavily populated by people of Acadian descent:
– Justice Muise of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court, in his November 2024 decision, ruled that the 2019 Electoral Boundaries Commission had not provided sufficient justification for its refusal to recommend an exceptional riding for Chéticamp and the surrounding area.
– According to Justice Muise, the Commission had not treated Chéticamp and the surrounding area on an equal footing with Clare, Argyle, and Richmond, the three other founding Acadian communities following the deportation, that were granted a protected riding in 1992.
– According to Justice Muise, the Commission was aware that the Acadian region of Chéticamp would not benefit from effective representation in the proposed recommendations, which violates section 3 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (the “Charter”).
– This year, the province established a new Commission whose “primary mandate is to recommend electoral boundaries to ensure effective representation of the Acadian region of Chéticamp and surrounding areas.”
Of the options proposed in the Commission’s interim report, we prefer the option up to and including Doyle’s Bridge on East Margaree Road, because we see it as a natural physical boundary between the Acadian region and the rest of the County referred to as the English, Scottish, and Irish region. We believe that this riding would ensure effective representation, which would finally give us the possibility of electing a bilingual MLA of Acadian descent, something that has not happened since 1925.
This area encompasses the vast majority of Acadians and Francophones residing in the Inverness constituency and includes all the Acadian communities of La Prairie, Petit Étang, Chéticamp, Belle Marche, Plateau, Point Cross, Grand Étang, St. Joseph du Moine, Belle Côte and East Margaree, including Arseneault Hill. In addition, this constituency would include the English communities of Pleasant Bay and Meat Cove, which have been doing business with Chéticamp for decades.
This information can be overwhelming and may not interest everyone, but if you want to learn more, reach out to the volunteers listed below. We also encourage everyone to take advantage of the information available on the Commission’s website (https://www.nselectoralboundariescommission2025.ca/) and/or attend any of the next public meetings:
– Saturday, October 4th – Mabou, 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Beinn Mhabu
– Sunday, October 5th – Chéticamp, 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Le Canton Culturel
– Sunday, October 5th – Margaree Forks, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Margaree Firefighters Club
– Monday, October 6th – Whycocomagh, 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Whycocomagh Waterfront Centre
Feel free to also reach out to the Electoral Boundaries Commission online at https://www.nselectoralboundariescommission2025.ca/en/contact or via e-mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 902-424-4494.
Interestingly, Inverness County once had two MLAs. Over time, they were merged into one. It’s a long geographic distance from one end to the other. Maybe it’s time for more effective representation.
At the end of the day, we just want someone to represent the Acadian region who understands the Acadian culture and the northern part of Inverness County. We’re proud of our culture. We just want to help promote our area and its long-term prosperity.
Sincerely,
Claude Bourgeois
Lisette Bourgeois
Marcel Bourgeois
Ronald Bourgeois
Napoléon Chiasson
Robert Deveaux
Darlene Doucet
Philippe Haché
Joleen Larade
Councillor Claude Poirier
Réjean Aucoin (Retired lawyer who pleaded both cases)
