Electoral boundary reform in Canada has historically consisted of balancing the concepts of numerical voter equality and effective representation in an elected Assembly. The Supreme Court of Canada has interpreted the 'right to vote' found in Section Three in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as meaning the right to effective representation such that strict voter equality is not the ultimate goal in the creation of electoral districts. This thesis examines, in detail, the controversial electoral boundary reform process in Prince Edward Island, the first such reform in the province in over one hundred years, and illustrates how the revised electoral legislation of 1994 has been constructed to fit the principle of effective representation. The new electoral arrangement has not only changed the geographics of the boundaries themselves, but has also eliminated many antiquated provincial electoral practices. These reforms, it is argued, stand as the most significant political changes in the province of Prince Edward Island for many years.
Allan Raymond Wilson (1996) studied this question.