HALIFAX—Nova Scotia’s electoral map could be dramatically altered under a list of new proposals aimed at ensuring effective representation for Black and Acadian voters.

The five draft proposals from the province’s electoral boundaries commission are now up for discussion during provincewide public hearings that started this week.

The first proposal calls for restoring four so-called extraordinary electoral districts: the predominantly Black riding of Preston and the largely Acadian ridings of Clare, Argyle and Richmond.

They were eliminated in 2012 when the province’s former NDP government decided there were too few voters in each district, which prompted the Acadian community to launch a successful court challenge.

The commission also says the Acadian community of Cheticamp in western Cape Breton should either become a separate, extraordinary district or be merged with Richmond, which is in southeastern Cape Breton.

If the latter proposal is adopted, the merger would create an unusual non-contiguous riding, which means it would represent Acadians from separate geographic areas.

The commission is also seeking input about the addition of members-at-large, whose role in the legislature would be to represent either Acadian or Black communities that are scattered across the province.

As well, the commission’s proposals call for creation of two additional ridings in the Halifax area — Bedford and Cole Harbour — to account for the growing populations in those two bedroom communities.

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