A final report calling for redrawn lines and fewer ridings on New Brunswick’s electoral map has been released.

More than 40 additional changes have been made to the map since it was first released, but some say it’s not enough and are threatening to take legal action.

The first draft of riding reforms, which cut the number of ridings from 55 to 49, was shown to the public in the fall but residents across the province have expressed concerns over the new map.

“Obviously, we’re not able to positively address all of them, but we certainly have addressed many of them,” says report co-chair Allan E. Maher.

“It’s a disgrace, it’s really a disgrace,” says Jean-Marie Nadeau, president of the Société de l'Acadie du Nouveau-Brunswick.

“Those people are stuck up in their head. They didn’t listen. They didn’t consider any arguments we put forward, especially for Memramcook and Sackville. “

The Memramcook riding is 70 per cent Francophone but under the reforms, Memramcook will merge into Sackville’s riding, dropping Francophone representation to 30 per cent.

“I think they just used numbers,” says Bernard LeBlanc, the Liberal MLA for Memramcook-Lakeville-Dieppe. “They took a whole bunch of numbers and they divided by 49 to give you a riding of 11,200 and some. If you look into what their mandate said, there was more than that.”

Concerns were also expressed at the hearings about areas of Fredericton being grouped together with outlying rural communities.

The final map doesn’t show much of a change.

“It’s like those hearings never even existed,” says public opinion strategist Chris Baker. “It’s like the City of Fredericton, the Chamber of Commerce, all those people who took up the 4.5 hours of presentation didn’t even exist.”

Written objections, with signatures from two MLAs, will be accepted by the commission over the next two weeks.

If there are still no changes, some people are threatening to take legal action.

“We’ll go to court and win,” says Nadeau. “Lose money for the government, lose our money, there’s no other alternative. These people are stubborn.”

A final version of New Brunswick’s electoral map is expected in late May.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Nick Moore