The number of ridings will be going down from 55 to 49 before the next provincial election.
The Commission making a stop at the Huntsman Marine Science Centre to get public input on where the changes should be made, with only one resident showing up to share his ideas.
Oak Bay resident Ed Young brought up the option of combining McAdam with Charlotte-Campobello. He says even though he cannot speak for the people of McAdam, McAdam did ask to be included in the Regional Council. He thinks the Islands ( Grand Manan, Deer Island, and Campobello ) should be left as they are, and that the people of Charlotte County need the two ridings we have now.
Young says what he thinks doesn't matter because things are going to change whether we want them to or not.
The Commission's Alan Maher says hearing from people around the province is essential. He says "..we are looking at a blank slate right now, and that's the whole intent, we want New Brunswickers to tell us what they think we should do in various areas to get the constituencies as close as possible to the electoral quotient of 11,269." Maher explains the quotient is determined by dividing the total number of registered voters in the province by the total number of electoral districts, which will soon be 49, and getting each riding as close to that number as possible is where the changes are needed.
The second round of public hearings during the Commission's mandate will be held in February and March of next year.
