Comment 27 – comments and feedback
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Ben Stapley
| District / Circonscription : | Northumberland |
|---|---|
| Suggested Name English / Nom suggéré anglais : | Northumberland |
| Suggested Name French / Nom suggéré français : | Northumberland |
Comments / Commentaires:
I have submitted 4 alterations to the proposed boundaries of the Northumberland Electoral District. The aim of these proposed alternates is connecting some isolated communities of the periphery of Northumberland to the district(s) which those communities share social and economic ties, taking into consideration natural barriers and road junctions, and an aim to balance the population of the district. A more detailed rational is available in the attached document "Northumberland District Redistrabution.docx". Thank you for your consideration.
Commennts from "Northumberland District Redistrabution.docx":
My submission includes 4 boundary adjustments to the proposed Northumberland Electoral District. The reasons and justification are below.
Adjustments#1:
The residents on Wilson Island have closer social and economic ties with the communities of Glenn Ross and Stirling than they do with the town of Campbellford and the rest of Northumberland. Therefore, I propose that Wilson Island be removed from Northumberland district and given to the Hasting Lennox and Addington Tyendinaga district.
Adjustment#2:
Brighton Township and Northumberland County have a vital interest in the Brighton Road Swing Bridge (a federal asset) that crosses the Murray Canal. This bridge serves as an economic and tourist transit point for the town of Brighton and is the only road connection for the Brighton community that is south of the Murray Canal with the rest of the township and Northumberland County. The bridge also a vital interest for the communities of the Bay of Quinte district as one of only a handful of road access points for Prince Edward County. As the bridge is a federal asset and a vital interest for two electoral districts, I propose the bridge be jointly represented by both Northumberland district and Bay of Quinte district. The alteration I proposed moves the boundary to run along County Rd 64 and Barcoven Beach Rd to facilitate joint representation of the bridge and a road connection for Brighton community south of the Murray Canal. This would transfer a few homes from Bay of Quinte district to Northumberland district.
Adjustment#3:
I propose that the Alderville First Nation remain with the Northumberland district. While I can see the potential political and social benefit of having all the First Nations around Rice Lake represented in one district, I firmly believe that benefit is outweigh by practical distance concerns and disruption of politically splitting Alderville away from the immediate neighbouring communities in the townships of Alnwick/Haldimand and Hamilton. On the first point, Rice Lake is a natural barrier which dramatically increases the time to travel to Peterborough (the political centre of the Peterborough district) in comparison to Cobourg (the political centre of Northumberland district). This will make it more difficult for members of the Alderville to visit their MP's office. This will also likely cause that community to feel politically and representationally isolated from Peterborough, similar to complaints I have heard from the residents of Otonabee Township, who being on the north side of Rice Lake feel politically and representationally isolated from Cobourg as part of the current Northumberland-Peterborough South district. On the second point, the Alderville and its surrounding communities are socially and economically interdependent, therefore it does not make sense to politically separate these communities.
Adjustment#4:
To offset the population Northumberland district would have by gaining Alderville First Nation, I propose the portion of Township of Cavan Monaghan that had been proposed for Northumberland district should instead be given to Peterborough district. The high-school which services the communities in this township is in Peterborough. The closest economic centre is in Peterborough. The Township of Cavan Monaghan is in Peterborough County. There is no reason why these communities should not be represented by the Peterborough district. Additionally, the proposal to use County Rd 28 as the dividing line between Northumberland and Peterborough districts splits several communities (namely Bailiboro and Fraserville) in two, which is contrary to the convention that electoral districts should not unnecessarily divide community groups.
