Yasir Naqvi’s map of Canada depicts a country unfamiliar to most Canadians: the country has eight provinces and two territories.
Canada has 10 provinces and 3 territories.
A taxpayer-funded political flyer sent by the Liberal MP to voters in his Ottawa Centre constituency to mark Canada Day includes Naqvi’s photo and contact details, and its main feature is a blank map of Canada encouraging recipients to “colour the map”.
However, recipients noticed that several provinces were missing from the map, and the maritime province of Prince Edward Island, normally located in the Gulf of St. Lawrence between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, was left off the map entirely.
The map also contained some inconsistencies regarding state and territory boundaries.
Quebec’s border covers the provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, uniting them as one province.
The border between the Yukon and the Northwest Territories disappeared and the two territories were merged into one.
The map has been circulating online, with many questioning why it was approved given its inaccuracies.
Michelle Rempel Garner, a Conservative MP for Alberta, posted on X (formerly Twitter), where she shared a photo of the map and asked, “Do you see any mistakes that the person proofreading this mailing didn’t notice?”
A few days after the maps were sent out, Naqvi contacted X to apologise for the mistake.
Think of it as an interactive map to teach your kids geography and start learning more about these amazing places.
Best of luck to you from me and my team #HappyCanadaDay!
Naqvi did not explain how the map was distributed despite the error, but instead offered solutions on how to use the inaccurate map.
“Think of it as an interactive map to teach your kids geography and start learning more about these amazing places,” Naqvi wrote on Sunday.
CBC News reached out to the Liberal MP for comment but did not receive a response.
The newsletter, called “Householders,” is paid for by the House of Commons and distributed free of charge by Canada Post to homes in each member’s constituency.
Members of Congress can send out these flyers, which typically inform constituents about parliamentary activities and issues, up to four times a year using their office budgets.