The last round of Federal Electoral Boundaries Commissions (FEBCs) finished their work in 2023, and the Governor-in-Council proclaimed the electoral maps – names and boundaries both – of 340 federal electoral districts under the Representation Orders, 2023. Canadians first voted along these new lines in April 2025. Yet this did not spell the end of what Elections Canada calls Redistribution 2022.
Parliament has never dared undermine the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act (EBRA) by enacting legislation to alter the boundaries of electoral districts, apart from one instance in February 2005 in direct response to the courts. However, parliament set the precedent in the 1960s of passing laws which amend the representation order to change the names of electoral districts. In the 1990s, Parliament adopted several private members’ bills to change the names of 44 out of the 298 electoral districts under the Representation Order, 1996.[1] In 2004, An Act to change the names of certain electoral districts changed of 38 out of the 305 ridings in eight provinces under the Representation Order, 2003.[2] Parliament also enacted the Riding Name Change Act in 2014 and changed the names of 30 out of 335 electoral districts in five provinces under the Representation Order, 2013.[3] And now the new 45th Parliament elected in April and convened in May 2025 has sprung into action to carry on this questionable tradition.
Even this American representation of gerrymandering presumes the equality of population between the various electoral districts.
The Reports in 2025-2026
The Lieutenant Governor-in-Council established the commission for the 2020s on 28 March 2025 and made Justice Dallas K. Miller the chair. Danielle Smith, Premier of Alberta and leader of the United Conservative Party, nominated John Evans and Julian Martin, while Naheed Nenshi, leader of the New Democratic Party and the Opposition, nominated Greg Clark and Susan Samson.[1]
In December, I chronicled the corrupt bargain between Justin Trudeau and Dennis King whereby King resigned abruptly as both leader of the Progressive Conservative Party and Premier of Prince Edward Island on 21 February 2025 so that Trudeau could name him Canada’s ambassador to Ireland one week later, on 27 February 2025.[1] This kicked off a farcical succession crisis in the birthplace of Confederation which only ended this week, after nearly one year. Continue reading
Bowden, J.W.J. “The Greater Son of a Lesser Sire: The Executive Authority of the Crown of Canada versus the Crown of the United Kingdom.” Chapter 2 in Executive Power and The Royal Prerogative in the Commonwealth, edited by Samuel White and Matthew Stubbs, 9-31. University of Adelaide Press, 2025.
James Bowden's Blog 