Commentaire 38 – commentaires et rétroaction

James A. McAllister, PhD

Brief to the Federal Electoral Districts Redistribution 2022 Commission for Ontario

The Commission for Ontario is to be commended for assuming this most onerous task of redistributing the boundaries of the province with the largest population and the most MPs in Canada. This task is even more onerous given the knowledge that the federal district boundaries set for southern Ontario are likely to be used for provincial elections and the boundaries set for the City of Toronto are likely to be used for municipal, local elections,

My written submission has made comments and suggestions for several areas of the province because the ramifications of the Commission's task are so widespread. It is the assumption of this submission that the redistribution of boundaries should take into account the service role of Members of Parliament. Political scientists study the activities of MPs in terms of how they spend their time or how they operationalize their priorities.ⁱ Specifically, in the words of an undergraduate textbook in Canadian government and politics that I have used in several courses,

"all MPs perform the daily function of ombudsmen or social workers for their individual constituents, intervening with ministers or public servants to hasten administrative decisions, to correct bureaucratic errors, and to repair governmental injustices. There will always be constituents with passport, immigration, employment insurance, pension, and many other kinds of problems, and some MPs specialize in trying to resolve them."ⁱⁱ

The caseload of MPs, performing this service role, has been estimated to take up an average of 42 per cent of an MPs time.ⁱⁱⁱ

With between a third and a half of MPs' time taken up by this service role, it is important to recognize the geographic barriers with which many must contend. Electoral districts should not be so large, remote or difficult to access, as in northern Ontario, that it is difficult or impossible for MPs to perform this service role. Conversely, it should also be recognized that MPs who represent urban areas, especially in large metropolitan cities like Toronto, have an easier time in meeting with their constituents. Many people in these metropolitan areas may not even know the name of their MP or how to contact them or ever think of doing so. If they do wish to meet their MP, it may involve a short drive or a brief ride on the TTC. Meanwhile, in northern Ontario meeting their MP may involve a drive or train travel of many hours.

In response to these concerns, my written submission has recommended that the City of Toronto should have one less MP than the Commission is proposing – two fewer that at present - and that Northern Ontario should have one more MP than the Commission is recommending, the same as at present.

However, this oral submission will focus on the redistribution of the City of Toronto.

City of toronto

It is noted that the Commission proposes to reduce the number of districts in the City of Toronto from 25 to 24 districts and this appears to be a reasonable approach given population trends. However, this may not be a sufficient adjustment as, among the current districts, only seven have populations above the current quota. The remaining 18 districts have populations below the provincial average.

Even among the 24 districts proposed by the Commission, 12 have populations below the provincial average. This submission recommends that the number of districts in the City of Toronto be further reduced to 23 so that fewer districts are below the provincial average.

For example, having proposed districts called "Don Valley" East, North, and West seems excessive, particularly when they are close to or adjacent to Bayview-Finch, York Centre, Eglinton-Lawrence, Beaches-East York and Toronto-Danforth – all of which have populations below the provincial average.

It is also recommended that the proposed district of Scarborough Northwest should continue to be called Scarborough Agincourt, the present and historic name for that area. Compared to the Commission's proposals, it would be moved west to take in the Scarborough part of the proposed Don Valley North. Its western boundary, Victoria Park Avenue – would remain the same as at present, as would its southern and northern boundaries while its eastern boundary would be moved further east, perhaps to McCowan Road. Scarborough Rouge River's western boundary also would be moved further west and Scarborough North would be eliminated as the Commission proposes.

Similarly, Scarborough Centre should continue to have Victoria Park Avenue as its western boundary, as at present, but its eastern boundary should be moved further east, as proposed by the Commission.

Conclusion

The Commission is urged to reduce the number of MPs from Toronto to 23 from the current 25 to recognize the current situation – too many districts with populations below the provincial average – as well as future population trends.

The Commission also is urged to recognize the extraordinary circumstances of the North and maintain the current number of districts in northern Ontario.

I trust that these recommendations will prove useful to the Commission. They reflect my lived experiences as a resident of Toronto and the GTA for more than four decades.