Acadian Federation restarting legal action over electoral map

The Acadian Federation of Nova Scotia is restarting its legal action against the provincial government in an effort to overturn electoral boundary changes made two years ago.

The federation says it was hoping that the province would refer the case directly to the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal as a constitutional issue.

The group says it asked the province to prepare a legal question for referral to the court in January 2013, but the government still hasn't filed the application.

Ghislain Boudreau, the federation's acting president, says it is left with no choice but to restart the legal action, which had been on hold, through the regular court process.

The new boundaries, passed in the legislature in December 2012, merged three ridings intended to represent Acadian populations with other ridings.

At the time, the federation said the changes would silence the voices of French-speaking people in the provincial legislature.