OntarioRidingRedistributionReducesRepresentationintheNorth

ThosewhocurrentlyresideonorneartheEastside of the Highway 17 corridor, including Manitoulin Island, up to Walford would be part of the Manitoulin-NickelBeltriding.Thosewestofhere, from Spanish to St. Joseph Island, and all the way North to White River, would be part of the Sault Ste. Marie-Algoma. Those North along Highway 11, as well as those in Chapleau, Sultan and Foleyet, would be part of the new riding of Kapuskasing-Timmins-Mushkegowuk. These changes are centered on population growth based oncollectedcensusdata.It'snotthatthepopulation acrossnorthernOntariodidn'tgrowoverthelast10 years,itjustdidn'tgrowasfastasotherpartsofthe province.2

Itwasn'tfromalackofeffortfromcitizens trying to retain the number of ridings in the north. The report indicates considerable concerns raised across those regions where ridings would be changed significantly, particularly in Northern Ontario.Infact,theyspecificallynoteof“49ofthe municipalities in Northern Ontario that passed resolutions in relation to the proposed redistribution plan included in their resolutions a petition to the Federal Government to introduce legislation that would provide for a minimum number of “guaranteed” ridings for Northern Ontario, to ensure that the voices of Northern and rural communitiesareheard.”Thisisanincredibleamountof actionfromconcernedcitizensandmunicipalities, and this work has not gone unnoticed. However, the Commission further notes that “these recommendationsfalloutside the mandate of ourCommission and the timelines imposed by the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment

Act.”

ThelossofaridinginNorthernOntariois problematic.Itmeansthatthecommunitiesthatare representedinthenorthwillhaveonelessvoicein parliament, and one less vote in the House of Commonsforissuesimportanttonortherners.The officeofaMemberofParliamentactsasnortherners' gateway to Federal public services, such as passport, immigration, and Canada Revenue Agency services, especially in smaller communities that don't have readily accessible Service Canadaoffices.

Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing is, by design, a rural riding, representing small towns, villages,FirstNations,andFrancophonecommunities.Itwasdesignedtoofferpeoplestrongpolitical representation,andtoarticulatetheiruniqueneeds and aspirations in Parliament. This readjustment may risk alienating people in those communities whose needs and concerns are overshadowed by the interests of more populous urban centres.This isn't to say that those interests can't align, but the needsofacommunitysuchasIronBridgearen'tthe same as the needs of a community like Sault Ste. Marie.

The report still needs to be approved throughtheStandingCommitteeonProcedureand House Affairs (PROC) and then returned to the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Ontario for consideration of any recommended changes. Other Northern Ontario MPs have so far alsobeenlessthanpleasedwithlosingrepresentationinNorthernOntarioforthereasonshighlighted andmore.Thisiswherethefighttokeeprepresentation will be fought next. MPs have a month to formally object to the proposed plan to remove a seat from Northern Ontario, and on this issue, we willworktobeaunitedfrontagainsttheplanthat seeks to strip that voice from Parliament. We will do everything we can to make sure the north is heardagainsthavingaseatstrippedfromNorthern Ontario.

Appropriaterepresentationisnotjustabout pure numbers, but of communities of interest, of accessibility of services, and ensuring that every Canadian, regardless of where they are from, are enfranchisedintheirpoliticalsystem.