Comment 93 – comments and feedback

Aaron Aggarwal

I had recently read about the federal government revisiting the federal riding boundaries and it has come to my attention that there is a public hearing process to elicit feedback about current federal ridings.

I have lived in Kingston for the last 15 years and for many of those years, my riding was Kingston and the Islands and my MP was located in Kingston. After recently moving and then participating in a federal election, I found it curious as to why my federal riding is NOT Kingston and the Islands but, instead is Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston. It appears that the boundary for my federal riding is close to the 401 with houses north of this boundary no longer a part of Kingston and the Islands. I would request that this be changed and that my residence be included in Kingston and the Islands for a number of reasons:

First, my property taxes and economic activity is largely centred around the city of Kingston. I feel that I am investing in this community and would like my vote at the federal level to reflect my concerns in this area as opposed to those in Lanark County or the Frontenac area.

Second, all of my municipal services are provided by the city of Kingston. This includes police and fire services along with garbage collection, recycling and access to municipal facilities. We are asked to bring proof of our address to obtain a library card or prove that we actually live in the city of Kingston and so it seems incongruent that our riding is not part of Kingston and the Islands with the rest of our fellow Kingstonians.

Third, and most importantly, access to our MP and voting is much more difficult with the current boundary. At present, our MP office is nearly an hour away by car. When I looked into voting earlier for the recent federal election, I was informed that I would also need to drive nearly an hour to Smiths Falls in order to cast my ballot before election day. In contrast, the MP for Kingston and the Islands is a 10 minute drive from my house and a 5 minute walk from my workplace. Early voting for this riding was also taking place in Kingston and it would have been so much easier to do as we are in Kingston everyday to drop off our kids to school, go to work or attend our family activities.

I understand that the boundary for this riding has to be set at some point but with Kingston expanding its boundaries and numerous people commuting to Kingston from their residences north of the 401, I would strongly appreciate your consideration to have our community and other communities like us to be included in the federal riding of Kingston and the Islands.

Thank you for your consideration.

Aaron Aggarwal