Commentaire 378 – commentaires et rétroaction

Geoff Kettel
Cathie Macdonald
Federation of North Toronto Residents Association (FoNTRA)

Hon. Justice Lynnne C. Leitch,
Chair,
Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Ontario
Via email: ON@redecoupage-federal-redistribution.ca

Re: Proposed Electoral Boundaries within the City of Toronto
Dear Madame Justice Leitch, Chair and Members,

I am writing on behalf of the Federation of North Toronto Residents Associations (FoNTRA) to express our deep sense of dismay concerning the proposed federal ridings, the number of, and their boundaries within the City of Toronto.

We strongly support the submission sent to you by the Mayor of Toronto.

Specifically,

1. We agree with Mayor Tory on the importance of maintaining boundaries that respect the boundaries of historic communities within the City of Toronto. At a meta level, this should reflect the traditional boundaries of the municipalities that were amalgamated into the present City of Toronto, notably the boundaries of Scarborough and Etobicoke. In particular, we submit that Scarborough should continue to have no fewer ridings than it does now (6), and agree with the Mayor of Toronto that portions of Scarborough should not be folded into ridings that are part of the former North York and old City of Toronto. Similarly, (the former Town of) Leaside should be maintained whole, not split and allocated to two different ridings.
2. We also agree with Mayor Tory that the remainder of the City of Toronto should have no fewer than the current number of ridings (19). We emphasize 'no fewer'. We believe that it is an affront to democracy that Canada outside of Quebec and the Maritimes should be relegated to inferior status, We believe representation by population is a principle that was embodied in the British North America Act, and regard it as a flagrant violation of that principle that Ontario and Western Canada (other than Saskatchewan) should have their share of the ridings in Parliament significantly reduced below their share of the total population of Canada.
3. As a better solution to the representation of Provinces, we support the proposal by the Globe and Mail editorial board (in an editorial dated 30 August 2022) to base the number of ridings in each province on population divided by the quotient obtained by dividing the population of Quebec by the current number of ridings in Quebec. The effect of the Globe and Mail proposal would be to increase the number of ridings in Ontario by 14, resulting in the number of ridings in the City of Toronto being increased to 27.
4. We note that the Province of Ontario has mandated that City of Toronto wards have the same boundaries as federal (and provincial) ridings within the City. The effect of the Globe and Mail proposal would be to maintain the approximate population per ward (110,000), which is already an excesssive number of residents to be served and represented by a single councillor. Increasing the average ward population to 120,000 (the effect of the Commission's proposals) will make an already dysfunctional representation virtually impossible.
5. Within the City of Toronto, the Commission's proposed electoral boundaries ignore existing community boundaries, dividing communities, and reducing the quality of representation. A number of FoNTRA members have made representations to the Commission expressing these concerns. We strongly urge the Commission, if it continues with its proposal to reduce the number of ridings in Toronto, to the extent possible,define electoral boundaries that reflect the boundaries of existing neighbourhoods.

We understand that the federal MPs will be approving the final post-2023 Electoral Map. As such we are also sending this submission to federal MPs in Toronto. We are also copying this to Premier Doug Ford and provincial MPPs in Toronto, who will share responsibility for the diminution of Ontario's influence in the Parliament of Canada.

We understand and appreciate the constraints under which the Commission makes its proposals. Nevertheless, we urge you, as much as you can within your mandate, to respond to the concerns we have raised and the recommendations we are making.

Yours truly,

John Bossons

For

Geoff Kettel and Cathie Macdonald
Co-Chairs, FoNTRA

Cc:
Toronto MPs
Mayor John Tory
Text BoxPremier Doug Ford and Toronto MPPs