Moved second reading of Bill S-213, An Act to change the name of the electoral district of Châteauguay—Lacolle.

He said: Honourable senators, I am not talking about a topic as important and fundamental as the one the two senators before me spoke about, but I would nevertheless like to present Bill S-213.

Honourable senators, today I move that Bill S-213, An Act to change the name of the electoral district of Châteauguay—Lacolle, be read the second time. This bill would change the name of the electoral district of Châteauguay—Lacolle to Châteauguay—Les Jardins-de-Napierville.

This little bill has two short clauses and two objectives. First, it would fix an error made in 2013 by the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for the Province of Quebec that has since been criticized by constituents in my senatorial division. Second, the bill would act on the will of the House of Commons, which in 2018 passed a private member’s bill that had been introduced by Brenda Shanahan in 2017. Unfortunately, after being introduced in the Senate by our former colleague Senator André Pratte in May 2018, this bill died on the Order Paper in June 2019 while being considered by the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee, to which it had been referred on November 22, 2018.

With regard to the first objective, the commission’s error stems from the fact that, in my senatorial division, there are three places with the name Lacolle, namely two villages and a border crossing. The two villages, both proud of their history and of their current circumstances, are situated just 11 kilometres apart. They are both located near the Vermont border and have similar names: Lacolle and Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle.

In the minds of people from outside the region, there has always been some confusion between these two towns. What is more, most people who cross the border into the United States and even the media refer to the customs station in Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle, which is one of the busiest in the country, as the Lacolle border crossing.

The confusion was compounded in 2013 when the redrawn federal riding in the region was named Châteauguay—Lacolle. Châteauguay is the main municipality in the area, so it is only natural that it would be part of the name of the riding represented by Ms. Shanahan. However, the municipality of Lacolle is not part of that riding. It is actually located in the adjacent riding of Saint-Jean, which is represented by MP Christine Normandin. I also have the honour of pointing out that the two municipalities are part of my senatorial division of De Lorimier.

In other words, the commission responsible for electoral redistribution in 2013 mixed up its Lacolles. The new riding could have been called Châteauguay—Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle, but not Châteauguay—Lacolle. The MPs who reviewed the commission’s work at the time missed this mistake, but residents of my senatorial division did not. Residents of Lacolle, Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle and other areas of my division complained to regional candidates during the 2015 election campaign and again in 2019.

During the 2015 election campaign, Ms. Shanahan promised to change the riding name if elected. Once elected, she introduced Bill C-377 to change the name from Châteauguay—Lacolle to Châteauguay—Les Jardins-de-Napierville. The bill was passed by the other place.

The proposed new name emerged from extensive discussions with residents, mayors and regional stakeholders. Châteauguay—Les Jardins-de-Napierville was a logical and meaningful choice for several reasons.

First, “Jardins-de-Napierville” is the name of an RCM that includes nine of the riding’s fifteen municipalities. Second, the largest city, Châteauguay, is on the northwestern edge of the riding, while the Jardins-de-Napierville RCM includes the nine municipalities in the southeastern part of the riding. Third, the beauty of the Jardins-de-Napierville RCM is reflected in the word “jardins”, meaning gardens, and it has made a name for itself as Quebec’s top market gardening region. Fourth, the name “Châteauguay—Les Jardins-de-Napierville” reflects the part urban, part rural character of the riding.

In short, the chosen name is uncontroversial. All the mayors in the region support the name change, and several hundred people signed a petition in 2017.

Lastly, the name Châteauguay—Les Jardins-de-Napierville meets all the technical criteria set by Elections Canada.

I will now move on to the second objective. In May 2018, Ms. Shanahan’s Bill C-377 was introduced in the Senate, sponsored by our former colleague André Pratte. At second reading stage in this chamber, Senators Pratte, Dawson and Carignan spoke in favour of the bill, and no one spoke against it. The bill was adopted by the Senate at second reading on November 22, 2018, and was then referred to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee for study and report.

As this was a private member’s bill and not a government bill, it could not be studied by the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee in the seven months remaining before the end of the last Parliament, even though it was a bill that had just one clause at the time. The committee devoted those months to studying several government bills, including numerous amendments to the Access to Information Act and the Criminal Code, as honourable senators will recall.

Today I propose that we finish the work that was interrupted in June 2019 by referring this bill to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee, which does not yet have anything on its agenda and could proceed to a study that I believe will be rather short.

There is just one small step left, and I urge you to take it without further delay. Thank you.