Commentaire 178 – commentaires et rétroaction

Graeme Watson

I am writing to provide input into the proposal to switch the Kingston portion of the Lanark - Frontenac - Kingston boundary to that of

Gananoque - Brockville -Prescott.

Please note that I own property in both Kingston and the Islands, and in Lanark -Frontenac - Kingston.

Isolating the citizens of Kingston politically by imposing an arbitrary boundary of the 401 disenfranchised them both socially, and financially (their taxes go to the city of Kingston).

Basing a political boundary based on a highway has no foundation in proper representation.

The optics of the current boundary certainly give indication of gerrymandering. To whit; the boundary separates urban and rural voters, both who traditionally vote along separate lines.

This continuation of grouping rural voters together to reduce their political influence is unacceptable.

This is an opportunity to address the current suspicious boundary and reunite Kingston on the federal level, in line with their municipal affiliation.

The people of Kingston do not appreciate being used as a numbers pool. If you are trying to keep the numbers relatively equal in each riding, do not use the citizens of Kingston as a population pool to be dipped into. It degrades the people affected, and the social and economic penalties imposed should far outweigh their use as "warm bodies".

Thank you,

Graeme Watson, CD