Comment 96 – comments and feedback

Ruth Martin

Dear Ms. Puddy,

My name is Ruth Martin and my husband, Roy, and I have lived in Glenburnie, Ontario for 53 years. Glenburnie is a rural community located just north of the 401 but is part of the City of Kingston.

Presently, our federal electoral district is Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston. This geographical area is enormous, with an approximate distance of 150 kilometres from our home to the northern-most community of the district near Arnprior, Ontario. We have never seen, let alone met, our Member of Parliament representing this area. It's doubtful he would ever know where Glenburnie is located. Suffice it to say that the current electoral boundaries for our area are less than acceptable or satisfactory. That said, the proposed changes to the federal electoral boundaries for our area to Gananoque – Brockville – Prescott are equally unacceptable and will do nothing do remedy the issue of our community being under-represented; in fact, it would be more accurate to say we are "non-represented". The geographical area will still be very large, and it is quite probable that we will still never have any interaction or contact with our "local" Member of Parliament.

As residents of the city of Kingson, Ontario we pay our taxes to the City of Kingston and vote for the mayor and councilors of the City of Kingston. Our home is a ten-minute drive to the downtown core of the city where the office of that district's Member of Parliament (MP Mark Garretsen) is located. Logically, then, we should be part of the same district with all other residents of the City of Kingston, voting for a local representative within the federal government. To continue to be forced to vote for and be represented by someone residing a hundred kilometres (or more) away from our residence is simply absurd. The fact that we are currently represented provincially by an individual who lives more than 85 kilometres away in Perth, Ontario is equally absurd, but that is another issue.

This issue has been an ongoing source of confusion and frustration for countless residents In the Kingston area for many years, particularly around election time. All residents within the municipality of the City of Kingston should be permitted to vote for the same local candidate for Member of Parliament. As such, we implore those responsible for the redistribution process to amend the electoral districts to include all residents of the municipality of the City of Kingston in one federal jurisdiction.

Regards

Ruth Martin

cc. Mark Gerretsen, Member of Parliament – Kingston and the Islands