Commentaire 295 – commentaires et rétroaction

W. George Lovell

Only today was it drawn to my attention that a proposal put forward by your Commission champions that the entire area of Kingston East be incorporated into a new federal riding, one that includes Gananoque, Prescott, and Brockville -- communities notably distinct from Kingston, as their inhabitants would surely attest.

As a Professor of Geography at Queen's University and an Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, I consider it my professional duty to point out that the area in question, its proud residents most of all, have always been socially and spatially, as well as historically and emotionallly, linked to Kingston. Most residents of Kingston whom I know shop there, meet their friends there, or go to school there. We are a close-knit, bonded community of Kingstonians.

Why have we heard nothing about this ill-advised proposal until this extraordinarily late hour. Why was the proposal not put before us in a more timely fashion, one that would have allowed people to become acquainted with what has been proposed and to express their feelings?

Why has community opinion not been sought? What kind of undemocratic procedure is this?

I therefore urge that the deadline you have in mind be extended and an effort made to publicize the proposal to the community of Kingston East before any drastic, irreversible action is taken.

Sincerely yours,

W. George Lovell, FRSC,

Professor of Geography,

Queen's University at Kingston