Comment 160 – comments and feedback

Karina Gould

Dear Chair Leitch,

I write to you as the Member of Parliament for Burlington, but also as a lifelong resident of the community.

Please accept this written submission as a compliment to my in-person submission at the October 12th public hearing in Milton.

Thank you to you and your Commission colleagues for your hard work.

I appreciate the difficult task at hand, and I would like to make a suggestion on behalf of the residents of Burlington.

I will focus primarily on the residents I currently represent but will also advocate for the community more broadly. At present, the City of Burlington is represented by three electoral districts. The current proposal would see the City further divided into four electoral districts. One may think this would be betterforthe residents of our community, however, I would respectfully argue that this will not be the case.

Given that instead of having three representatives with substantial portions of the City in each electoral district, the proposal as put forward by the commission would see one main electoral district (Burlington — Lakeshore) and then three electoral districts that are majority Oakville (Oakville Lakeshore, Oakville North) and Milton (Burlington-Milton West).

I have been hearing from my community with regards to the proposed changes to the riding of Burlington, specifically,

• The removal of the Elizabeth Gardens neighbourhood (west of Burloak Drive to the Queen Elizabeth Way) to a new riding, Oakville Lakeshore; and

The removal of the Tyandaga and Brant Hills neighbourhoods (west of Guelph Line, south of Dundas Street, east of Kearns Road, east of King Road and north of the Queen Elizabeth Way) to a new riding, Burlington — Milton West.

The current electoral district of Burlington has a population of 125,435, within the +/- 10% of 116,000 that the commission is looking for. The boundaries have remained largely the same since it was created in 1976. Given that it continues to fall within the population range established by the commission, I do not see a compelling argument to change the boundaries.

From a community of interest point of view, residents in the Tyandaga and Brant Hills neighbourhoods, attend schools, participate in activities and groups, and access services in Burlington and not in Milton.

From an access point of view, there are no public transit connections between municipalities in the Halton Region. For someone located in Tyandaga or Brant Hills, it would take them over two hours to travel to their Member of Parliament's office in Milton by public transit.

This puts residents who need to access services from the federal government at a disadvantage, especially those with unique needs and accessibility concerns. Most of those who seek service from their Member of Parliament are experiencing a very difficult and personal issue. Whether it be immigration or accessing their senior's benefits, the added burden of travelling to a different city will only exacerbate these issues for our community's most vulnerable populations.

Burlington south of Dundas Street is not only a natural border but has historically been a dividing line between urban and rural neighbourhoods in our city.

Furthermore, the residents in the southeast end of Burlington, in the Elizabeth Gardens neighbourhood, hold their community connections and access services within the City of Burlington. The proposal to currently add a very narrow sliver of the Burlington community to the new Oakville-Lakeshore electoral district will dilute their voices in a predominantly Oakville electoral district.

I also advocate keeping the rest of Burlington, outside the boundaries of the Burlington electoral district, whole. Whether they form part of the Burlington-Milton West district or an Oakville-North Burlington district, it is important that the residents of the City of Burlington form a substantial part of at least two districts and not be sliced and diced so that the voices of Burlingtonians are marginalized in other municipalities.

I would encourage the Commission to be more flexible surrounding the +/- 10% of the population rule to ensure that Burlington residents in the above-mentioned neighbourhoods are not left behind. The proposal as it stands will divide Burlington residents into districts in which their voices are minimized, and their interests are not prioritized.

Last, I propose to keep the name of the electoral district 'Burlington' compared to the proposed 'Burlington Lakeshore', as this is not a name that accurately represents the majority of Burlington.

Enclosed please find a map of the proposed boundaries forthe electoral district of Burlington for ease of reference.

I thank you for your time, dedication, and efforts, and I hope that you will listen to the voices of Burlington residents.

Sincerely,

The Honourable Karina Gould

Member of Parliament

Burlington