Commentaire 32 – commentaires et rétroaction

Mary-Anne Agboola

My name is Mary-Anne Agboola, and I am writing to the commission regarding the recently proposed riding changes following the 2021 census. To introduce myself, I have been a resident of Brampton North for quite a few years now and worked in the past for a local MP. Through my professional tenure there, I was able to engage and interact with many different members, organizations and stakeholders in my community. This provided me with great visibility and a great sense of the makeup of our community here in Brampton North. I am sure the commission has worked tirelessly on this proposal, and although I understand it is largely mapped out according to census data and population changes, I am hoping that you can take a closer look at the proposal and how it will be affecting communities, namely their representation as many similar interest and demographic communities are being split up. Along with other potential negative effects of this proposal.

The first being postal code issues, that effect the communication certain communities have with their local MP. The proposed riding boundaries don't split down postal codes for Canada Post and therefore residents are not receiving communications from their Member of parliament because they fall under that pocket the last 3 letters of their postal codes will overlap. In this case, the Snelgrove Community falls under both Brampton North and Brampton West, the way its split on Wanless meant a significant amount of constituents were not getting communication from their MP, which can put their community at a severe disadvantage when not knowing who to go to, or keeping abreast of updates in the mail from their federal representative.

The next being the issue is the naming of the ridings. It would be highly beneficial for the sake of residents and the community to keep the riding names the same. Brampton Caledon is a name proposed by the community for the North most riding. It is so important for constituents to be clear on their ridings, as well as who to go to for help and this can be effected when the riding names are confusing for residents. The riding names should be based on the quadrants of the city, and the geographic direction as this is the most digestible for all.

In terms of keeping communities together, and not lessening the power of their voice to lawmakers it is vital we don't not split communities of interest apart. Especially those that have worked to not be underrepresented. They are two groups in particular that are at risk of this – that being the Heartlake Community and the North Park community.

The Heartlake community comprises of the residents, the Conservation Area, the major high school Heartlake Secondary to name a few notable landmarks. This community as a whole is an integral part of Brampton North and should not be moved from the riding. It is also very similar demographically it it's neighboring community of Springdale, and I urge the commission to keep these two communities together and not divide them as they should have one cohesive voice as they are apart of a larger community of interest. This also applies to the community of Loafers Lake as well. Splitting them up will only lessen their voice to policy makers that they have worked so hard to build. Therefore I on behalf of many of the residents of Heartlake propose that we keep this in the current riding of Brampton North.

A suggestion would be instead of using the 410 as a divide, use Hurontario on the west side, to further include this community again or alternatively Kennedy Road.

Thank you for your time.

Mary-Anne Agboola