Comment 150 – comments and feedback

Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Ontario
PO Box 37018 Southdale
London, ON N6E 3T3

Dear Commissioners,

It was a pleasure to meet you and have the opportunity to present to you at the in-person public hearing in Toronto on October 19, 2022, where I was able to speak to the proposed electoral map for the riding of Etobicoke Centre. Thank you again for your diligent work on the redistribution process.

As I said on October 19^th, I believe that in your proposal you have very sensibly revised the Etobicoke Centre boundaries to accommodate for the key criteria that you are mandated to satisfy such as: equal representation by population, maintaining communities of identity and interest, historical patterns of an electoral district, and geographic size of electoral districts.

To follow up on my presentation, please find below a written submission outlining my feedback on the proposed changes to the boundaries of Etobicoke Centre.

Equal representation by population

The most important factor that the commission must strive to achieve is equal representation by population to ensure that each person's vote has equal weight, no matter which riding they live in. To achieve this, each riding must have roughly the same population.

Currently, Etobicoke has three ridings and therefore three Members of Parliament representing the community in the House of Commons. However, Etobicoke has grown by almost 30,000 people since the last redistribution. As a result of this growth, Etobicoke needs and deserves more than 3 MPs representing our community in Parliament and serving the community's local needs.

In order to keep as close as possible to the electoral quota set by the commission, a fourth Etobicoke MP is needed, and this is exactly what the commission proposes to establish.

If Etobicoke were to have only 3 ridings in the future, the 3 Etobicoke ridings would be much larger than ridings in the rest of the city and the province. This would mean that Etobians would be underrepresented in the House of Commons and that the vote of each resident of Etobicoke would be worth significantly less than the vote of Canadians living in the rest of Toronto and across Ontario.

Proposed Etobicoke Centre boundaries

At the public hearing on October 19^th, I also spoke to the proposed new boundaries of Etobicoke Centre.

Eastern boundary

The proposed eastern boundary at Islington Ave. is appropriate for a number of reasons:

1. Considering Etobicoke's growth and the principle of equal representation by population, Etobicoke needs a 4th Etobicoke riding.
2. Different levels of government presently use Islington Ave. as a major boundary for the delivery, planning, and organization of services. For example, the City of Toronto uses Islington Ave. as the east-west boundary of four major Etobicoke neighbourhoods as established by the City of Toronto for the planning of services.
3. Islington Ave. is an east-west boundary line as established by the Government of Ontario for its Home & Community Care Support Services.
4. The Islington boundary is also consistent with historical riding boundaries. With the proposed creation of the new Humber riding, it is important to note that, historically, people living in Etobicoke have lived in ridings with boundaries that span both sides of the Humber River (i.e. the former riding of Etobicoke [1968 – 1979] and York West [1966-1976 and 1987-1996] contained territory on both sides of the Humber River).

Northern boundary

In terms of the proposed northern boundary, Highway 401 is the appropriate northern border for Etobicoke Centre for a number of reasons:

1. In those communities like Willowridge and the other areas south of the 401 that are currently part of Etobicoke North, residents have to travel between 2.5 km and more than 5 km north past the 401 and 409, the rail tracks, and the industrial zone to reach their closest northerly neighbours in Etobicoke North. Bringing these areas into Etobicoke Centre as the commission has proposed reunites a number of communities of interest that are currently divided between Etobicoke Centre and Etobicoke North.
2. The re-addition of Willowridge into Etobicoke Centre as the commission has proposed makes sense. Willowridge used to be part of Etobicoke Centre before the last redistribution and it is immediately adjacent to Etobicoke Centre and forms part of the community in Etobicoke Centre.
3. Having the other areas south of the 401 and north of Dixon Rd. in Etobicoke Centre as the commission has proposed would help keep the neighbourhood of Kingsview Village-The Westway together as established by the City of Toronto. Furthermore, according to the Toronto District School Board, the closest intermediate and secondary school for students who reside in Kingsview Village are Dixon Grove JS and Kipling Cl, which are both currently in Etobicoke Centre. This further reinforces the fact that the residents of these areas form part of the community of Etobicoke Centre south of the 401.
4. Shifting the boundary between Etobicoke Centre and Etobicoke North southwards from the 401 would divide City of Toronto neighbourhoods such as the Kingsview Village-The Westway and the Willowridge-Martin Grove-Richview neighbourhoods.

One change the commission could consider is extending the proposed 401 northern boundary further eastwards to keep all of Kingsview Village-The Westway neighbourhood together in the spirit of community continuity.

Southern boundary

Given that Etobicoke has grown by almost 30,000 people since the last redistribution, with most of the growth in South Etobicoke, it makes sense for the boundary of Etobicoke Centre to shift slightly southwards as in the proposal.

I believe that Dundas St. W. is the most sensible southern border for Etobicoke Centre for the following reasons:

1. The City of Toronto already uses Dundas St. W. as the boundary between two Etobicoke neighbourhoods it established for the planning of services.
2. Any southerly shift from Dundas St. W. would divide the Etobicoke City Centre neighbourhood as established by the City of Toronto.
3. No further southerly shift of the proposed southern boundary is appropriate in my view as this would likely require shifting Etobicoke Centre's proposed northern boundary south from Highway 401 to maintain the population target. I believe that this would not be appropriate for the reasons that I mentioned in the previous section.

Again, I thank you and the members of the commission for your consideration of these comments and for your work on the redistribution process.

Sincerely,

Yvan Baker, MP
Etobicoke Centre