Commentaire 13 – commentaires et rétroaction

Murray J. Davenport

The Peterborough Kawartha electoral boundary does not make sense, particularly the area in Northumberland County on the south shore of Rice Lake. We presume that this area was added into the Peterborough Kawartha electoral district to achieve a population count, however, the lands south of Rice Lake look south to Cobourg for their schools, shopping and daily activities; never to the City of Peterborough.

Draw the line along the centerline of Rice Lake then expand the electoral district east

Electoral Boundaries Commission for Ontario

Thank you for the opportunity to present our opinion on the latest changes to the Peterborough Kawartha riding electoral boundaries.

The focal point of the mapping of the new "Peterborough" riding, as presented, is obviously the City of Peterborough.

All of the areas designated to the electoral district of "Peterborough" are ratepayers who naturally obtain their services (schools, shopping, hospital, etc.) from the City of Peterborough with the exception of one area. The area is the "Roseneath and Alderville First Nation" portion of the proposed riding along the south shores of Rice Lake.

The "Roseneath and Alderville First Nation" area south of Rice Lake naturally obtains all their services (schools, shopping, hospital, etc.) from Cobourg and other communities along the shores of Lake Ontario. This area is literally cut off from the City of Peterborough and Rice Lake. This portion of the proposed electoral mapping simply does not make any sense.

A better solution would be to trade the "Roseneath and Alderville First Nation" with "Asphodel-Norwood." The ratepayers in "Asphodel-Norwood" naturally obtain their services (schools, shopping, hospital, etc.) from the City of Peterborough.

The size of the new "Peterborough" riding and the new "Northumberland" riding may be distorted in terms of population somewhat, however, this minor change to the electoral mapping simply makes sense from a ratepayer's viewpoint.

The focus on the electoral boundaries should be based on communities. Avoid changing boundaries for the sake of change or for political reasons.

Erin O'Toole had the best suggestion of the night. Ontario is getting one additional seat in parliament. Peel Region is the fastest growing community in the province. Create the new seat in the Region of Peel and leave the remainder of the electoral districts unchanged.

Yours truly,

Murray J. Davenport