Commentaire 62 – commentaires et rétroaction

Terry Dowdall

Ms. Paula Puddy

Commission Secretary
Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Ontario
PO Box 37018 Southdale
London, ON N6E 3T3
September 12^th, 2022

Dear Ms. Puddy,

Thank you for the opportunity to provide my feedback to the Electoral Boundaries Commission. As an MP, you develop a strong connection with your riding. As such, it is difficult to lose sections of your riding in which you have developed sincere and lasting connections with individuals, associations, and businesses. My preference would be to never change the riding boundaries. But I understand that populations do shift, and my riding has been one of the most populated in Ontario for some time. There is not a perfect way to redistribute a riding, but I believe that in the case of Simcoe—Grey, the Commission has done an admirable job of keeping the balance which exists presently. I do not have major concerns with the new boundaries.

I do have concerns with the proposed name, however. Collingwood and the Town of Blue Mountains are thriving, and popular parts of the riding. I always enjoy visiting those two municipalities. However, they are mere minutes apart from one another in the far northwest portion of the existing riding. Using only these two communities in the new name draws attention to just a small portion of the riding, which takes a couple hours to drive across from end-to-end. Under the proposed redistribution, I will receive part of Dufferin County, more of Grey County, which adds to much of Simcoe County and the small portion of Grey County which I represent already. For this reason, my preferred name for the new riding is Simcoe— Grey—Dufferin. This is the name that all constituents can support and feel a part of going forward.

Thank you again for the opportunity to share my views.

Yours sincerely,

Terry Dowdall

Member of Parliament Simcoe—Grey