Commentaire 234 – commentaires et rétroaction

Maurice Breslow

As a long-time resident of the part of Kingston ON which lies north of Highway 401, I am writing to express my opposition to placing our area into the proposed riding of Gananoque-Brockville-Prescott, and to request that we be moved into the riding of Kingston and the Islands.

In my view, placing us in the new riding makes no rational sense. Since amalgamation, I have been a legal resident of Kingston, which is, and for almost fifty years has been, the professional, economic, cultural, and social center of my life. I have little to do with Gananoque, virtually nothing to do with Brockville, and have never even been in Prescott. On the other hand, before I retired I was in Kingston every weekday, as that was where my employment was, as well as many evenings and weekends. Even now, I am in Kingston several times a week. Seldom in Gananoque, almost never in Brockville, and never in Prescott. Our son and daughter graduated from high school in Kingston. Kingston was, and is, is our center.

On the other hand, there are compelling reasons for returning this area to the riding of Kingston and the Islands:

1. Highway 401 does not define this area of Kingston or our life relative to the rest of Kingston. It should be looked on as simply a road that happens to lie where it does. It in no way makes our area any less a part of Kingston than any other part, nor our lives and concerns any different from those of other Kingstonians.
2. May I point out the following:
   • —We pay our property taxes to Kingston.
   • —We vote in Kingston municipal elections. The councillor for our area sits on Kingston City Council.
   • —Our police and fire services come from the Kingston Police Department and Kingston Fire Department.
   • —Other services, such as road maintenance, garbage collection, and road snow-clearing, are all done by the relevant Kingston departments. If there is ever a problem or need for information, it is Kingston City Hall that we contact.

   In short, we are Kingstonians.

3. The constituency office of the Member of Parliament for Kingston and the Islands is a mere twenty-five minute drive from my home. If the north-of-401 area were put into the proposed new riding, my travel time to my MP's constituency office (assuming it's in Brockville) would be an hour. If it's in Prescott, it would be even longer. This, I submit, would reduce my ability to participate in our democracy.

I hope that the Commission will agree that reason dictates that the area of Kingston north of Highway 401 not be included in the proposed Gananoque-Bockville-Prescott riding, but on the contrary, become part of the riding of Kingston and the Islands.

Respectfully yours,

Maurice Breslow