STUDY BACKGROUND
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Federal electoral districts are readjusted after every decennial census. An electoral boundaries commission is established in each province to review the population distribution in electoral districts in order to ensure that the population is effectively represented in the House of Commons. To that effect, each commission must divide the province into electoral districts making sure the population is distributed as equally as possible among each district. Each commission must also give due regard to the geographic size of districts as well as to human factors such as the community of interest, the community of identity, and the historical pattern of the district.
The electoral boundaries commissions (hereinafter referred to as commissions) are federal institutions that are subject to the Official Languages Act. During the last readjustment in 2002-2003, the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages received complaints against two commissions alleging that they had not taken into account the federal government’s commitment to enhance the vitality of the English and French linguistic minorities in Canada, pursuant to Part VII of the Official Languages Act. Furthermore, after the readjustment process was over and the commissions disbanded, additional representations were made to the Commissioner with respect to another commission. As the complaints and requests for action came from different parts of the country, the Commissioner decided to undertake a Canada-wide study of the issue. The study began in the summer of 2005.
