Comment 20 – comments and feedback
Back to all comments and feedback from the public
Dave Burton, Mayor of the Municipality of Highlands East
Please accept the following letter on behalf of Mayor Burton and Council for the Municipality of Highlands East regarding the proposed change to the boundary lines for Highlands East, one municipality being reviewed under the Federal Electoral Districts Redistribution 2022 review.
Re: Federal Electoral Districts Redistribution 2022-Municipality of Highlands East
The Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act sets out the Commission's mandate and rules to govern the redrawing of electoral boundaries. The mandate is clear that this process must consider community identify and the historical pattern of electoral districts, particularly for sparsely populated rural regions of Ontario.
In the case of Highlands East, a region that is culturally and historically linked, the proposal to arbitrarily draw a division along 507, 503 and 118 highways will effectively cut our region in half.
Highlands East covers 758 square kilometres with over 70 lakes and is the amalgamation of the Townships of Bicroft, Cardiff, Glamorgan and Monmouth, which includes the hamlets of Cardiff, Highland Grove, Wilberforce, Tory Hill and Gooderham. Our community has always prided itself on the singular beauty of our natural surroundings and the authenticity of our people.
Highlands East has a vested interest in maintaining political cohesion with the County of Haliburton with respect to federal policies affecting our region.
Highlands East has worked hard with our provincial and federal partners on our comprehensive Community Safety and Wellbeing plan, which was recently developed in Haliburton County and charts out resource allocation within the current jurisdictional boundaries. This forward-looking plan includes the entirety of Highlands East in terms of policing, medical services, mental health and crisis delivery. Our service delivery model is aligned within the current political and geographical boundaries.
We care deeply about our community and are disappointed in the proposed changes. We believe that it is important to keep our community together.
We are asking the Commission to reconsider the proposal that severs the historical and community identity that enriches Highlands East and effectively cuts our community off from the County of Haliburton and the broader community found with the riding of Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock.
Sincerely,
Dave Burton, Mayor of the Municipality of Highlands East