Riding name change: Brenda Shanahan’s gamble goes awry

The electoral district of Châteauguay-Lacolle will not change its name despite a bill introduced seven years ago by Liberal MP Brenda Shanahan. The opposition parties voted en bloc against it on November 2nd.

Translation Amanda Bennett

In 2015, Ms. Shanahan had proposed Bill S-207 in the Senate to change the name of the electoral district of Chateauguay-Lacolle to Chateauguay-Jardins de Napierville since the municipality of Lacolle is not actually in the riding of Chateauguay-Lacolle, but rather in the riding of Saint-Jean.

On the opposition side, questions were raised as to the bill’s pertinence. Alain Therrien, Bloc Québécois MP for the neighbouring riding of La Prairie, believes that Ms. Shanahan did not use the right channel to change the name of her riding.

“There are other ways to do it than to make a bill, there you waste members’ time; it is much simpler to go through the electoral commission, it exists for that very reason,” exclaimed the Bloc member.
According to him, instead of taking the simplest route, the Liberal MP chose the one that would give her the most visibility.

“She never came to see us to talk to us and ask us if we were for or against, that’s what I find disappointing,” he denounced.

Bill 

It was during a tour in the Lacolle region in 2015 that she realized that the name of the riding was generating confusion for many citizens. These exchanges inspired her to come up with an idea.

“I decided to propose a private bill because we were still far from a new electoral commission. It happens every 10 years, so I didn’t want to waste time,” Ms. Shanahan said.

Removing the name of Lacolle for that of Jardins-de-Napierville was a no-brainer for the Liberal MP since the MRC of the same name covers an extensive portion of the riding’s territory. 

“The idea was accepted by everyone except the Conservatives. Even the Bloc was in agreement with it. It was accepted in the House of Commons and then sent to the Senate in 2019,” Ms. Shanahan said.

The MP is disappointed with the turn of events

“Even though I knew the Conservatives were not going to support me, I don’t understand why the Bloc did not follow suit. They said in the House that they were in favour of this project,” Brenda Shanahan said.
She can’t understand why a simple name change wasn’t accepted. “What difference does it make in their lives, why vote against the will of our citizens?”