Commentaire 61 (31 août 2022) – commentaires et rétroaction

Wayne Long, MP for Saint John

Saint John riding changes, should not be split in two.

Presentation made at the public hearing in Rothesay on 22 September 2022

Submission to the Electoral Boundaries Commission for New Brunswick

I want to sincerely thank you for your work, and I certainly recognize that the job you have undertaken is not easy. A change to one riding affects others and has a domino effect across the province.

I am here today to advocate what's best for the city of Saint John; presently and for its future.

Certainly, one of the problems currently with the New Brunswick federal electoral boundaries is the unnecessary splitting of Fredericton, Dieppe, and Riverview across two electoral districts and the splitting of bedroom communities of Fredericton across several electoral districts with which they share no communities of interest; and the underpopulation of the Miramichi electoral district

The changes you propose seem to address the problems for Fredericton and Moncton, except Saint John has been sacrificed to accommodate this and I can't understand why?

I respectfully suggest you start with not breaking up the three major cities in this province. The three largest Cities need to and deserve to have one MP that represents and focuses on them. You certainly did this with changes proposed to Fredericton and Moncton. Even your own words in your report recognize that what you are proposing for Saint John is contrary to what you have done for Fredericton and Moncton.

In fact, the newly proposed district of Saint John — St. Croix unnecessarily splits Saint John at the Harbour Bridge and puts some outlying areas in this riding that are literally minutes from Fredericton.

Your proposed new riding of Saint John — St. Croix takes West Saint John and combines it with a 70% rural mix. Urban and Rural ridings present very different issues. It makes no practical sense to do this. Saint John is a city that is growing and thriving. To suggest that Port Saint John, Saint John Energy, and Moosehead Breweries among others should be in a predominantly rural riding is not acceptable nor practical. The City should not be divided.

Currently as it stands, the Saint John - Rothesay electoral district represents 81996 people and falls well within an allowable variance. It represents a distinct community interest.

Trends of other presenters across the province, including what we've heard from the City of Saint John suggest a better make up of the riding would be to maintain Saint John — Rothesay and create a more demographically appropriate riding by combining Grand Bay-Westfield, the Kingston Peninsula, with Rothesay parish and Quispamsis.

The ability for an MP to represent an area with more consistent demographic, socioeconomic and industrial realities allows them to better advocate for their region, instead of being divided in different communities of interest.

Breaking up Saint John into two federal ridings will be a defining error of this commission. As I've said, maintaining communities of interest in ridings, especially a growing one like Saint John, will unnecessarily break up our community and limit an MPs ability to deliver for their community.

Keeping Saint John together, while creating a riding of our outlying communities will better represent the distinct characteristics of our region and ensure that this region can stay focused on growth and good representation in Ottawa, no matter the MP.