Comment 21 – comments and feedback
Back to all comments and feedback from the public
Jennie Stevens - Member of Provincial Parliament for St. Catharines
Redistribution Proposal: Riding of St. Catharines
Introduction
The Riding of St. Catharines currently serves 114, 782 residents. These residents call St. Catharines home, have an attachment to the feel of the city; live, work, play, and learn within the boundaries. St. Catharines is a unique riding bordering the Niagara Escarpment, the Royal Henley Rowing Course, Lake Ontario, and the Welland Canal.
Stance & Purpose Statement
The Redistribution for the Federal Electoral Boundaries for the Province of Ontario, should consider a) keeping the riding boundary of St. Catharines the same as it currently is constructed, or b) follow the outlined proposed changes as suggested by the Commission. Several considerations surrounding vertical expansions, population growth, and services specific to St. Catharines support keeping the St. Catharines riding together - or together as much as possible.
Reasoning 1 - Expansion of STC Vertically & Community Improvement Plans
The City of St. Catharines has begun some aggressive rezoning strategies that allow for growth and expansion of residential spaces, upwards. Invest in St. Catharines (2019) called St. Catharines for the "urban connection to wine country," and expanded on the notion of the bustle mid-sized city as the gateway to rural vineyards.
According to the City of St. Catharines, 1009 apartment units have been approved City-wide since 2018. . The figure above is based on the Cities review of all approved Site Plan Applications since 2018 containing apartment units.
The verticality of the City is not only a component of its recent historical development, but it will become a much more considerable component of its future development.
Currently, the City of St. Catharines has designated six areas of priority redevelopment and expansion, specifically for mid- to large-sized residential growth, business redevelopment, and rejuvenation according to the Community Improvement Plan, 2020. The six areas fall directly into the current and proposed St. Catharines riding; Downtown, Queenston, Hartzel Rd./Merritton, Oakdale/Moffatt, Western HIll, and Ontario/Carlton. With an expansion in housing and business, there will be more places for people in the riding to live and work.
The city has designated the entire current and proposed riding of St. Catharines as urban-residential or industrial, acknowledging the growth and expansion of the current and future communities (Community Improvement Plan, 2020). The downtown core is home to major community spaces such as the Meridian Centre (home to the OHL Ice Dogs and CEBL River Lions), and the Performing Arts Centre (drawing performers such as the Tenors and Tom Cochrane).
Alongside these six priority neighbourhoods, the City has approved several high-density building plans that range from 8-storey condos to 37-storey condos in both the downtown core and across the riding. In the downtown core alone, four residential buildings have been approved and are in various stages of development; the Carlisle Square 18-storey building, 88 James the 30-storey tower, and a 37-storey tower being built up the road from the Meridian Centre. According to the Economic Development and Planning Department in the City of St. Catharines, the projected growth in population will exceed the population growth estimates from the most recent 2021 census data.
In short, St. Catharines is a community that is attracting an urban population by pursuing a plan to build up, not out. The growth in renters and high-rises is a much different composition of a population than other surrounding areas, which are much more suburban or rural in composition. The verticality of the City makes it so the composition of the residents and their needs substantially different than smaller urban or rural adjacent communities in Niagara. This element is a clear shared community of identity that is different from smaller communities like Lincoln, Pelham and Niagara on the Lake.
Reasoning 2 - Projected Population Growth in 10 years
The current population of the St. Catharines Riding, as presented by the Commission is 114, 782. The City of St. Catharines considers the entirety of the riding an urban area (Planning & Development, 2020). According to Statistics Canada, the population growth from 2016-2021 for the city was +2.8%. With the city expanding its projected developments in the six core areas mentioned above, and keeping with the Statistics Canada increase in population, the following table suggests the potential population growth for St. Catharines over the course of the next decade.
| 2016 | 2021 | 2026 | 2031 | 2036 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 133,113 | 136,803 | 140,633 | 144,571 | 148,619 |
*Data from 2016 and 2021 are directly from Statistics Canada. Data from 2026-2036 are projects based on the population growth of +2.8+ as described in the 2021 Statistics Canada outline for St. Catharines.
The important sentiment to note with the population growth, is that the growth is projected modestly at an increase of 2.8% where the private housing within St. Catharines increased by 3.5% (Statistics Canada, 2021).
It should be noted that this increase in housing and population size grew prior to multiple vertical housing expansions that have been approved within the core of the riding and several vertical expansions within the corners of the riding. In the table above, the modestly projected population growth for St. Catharines in the next decade is upwards of 20,000 people, and with the vertical expansion in the six priority zones of the city (and riding), the potential total of residents within the St. Catharines riding in ten years would be over the projected 10% quote as directed from the Redistribution Commissioner. The Commissioner's Rationale (2022) for the proposed changes outlined that riding boundaries have to be considered, "where continued population growth is expected" (p. 10). St. Catharines riding is thriving and expanding upwards, not outwards. The boundaries should not change, but if they do, the proposed changes presented by the Commissioner would suffice on account of the projected population growth.
Reasoning 3 - Services Specific to St. Catharines & Shared Centres
St. Catharines is home to hundreds of unique businesses, clubs, associations, non-profit organisations, food banks, and religious services that work to enhance the lives of residents here. Uniquely, these services exist within a relatively small geographic area, done purposefully in a way that allows marginalised and vulnerable populations to access the services they need free of barriers. For example, Mental health, addictions and rehabilitation services, shelters, support networks, ID clinics, safe consumption sites etc are all located in or within walking distance from our downtown core.
An example is the municipalities out of the cold program to combat homelessness is an interconnected program of St. Catharines specific churches that offer warm spaces for the unhoused members of our community. This program, the people who require these resources, are specific to St. Catharines and do not travel to other communities. The needs of other municipalities are much different than the needs present in Niagara's largest municipality. The above issues affect St. Catharines more heavily as a whole, the effects of which are seen in pockets across the city, versus areas such as Niagara on the Lake or smaller urban communities that surround St. Catharines.
Community organisations have collectively worked together for years on shared priorities, offering services in harmony with each other. These groups are operated under City of St. Catharines jurisdiction, receive municipal and provincial funding and greatly benefit from singular representation. In working cohesively, nonprofit and charity organisations within the municipal boundary of St. Catharines benefit from having one representative with whom they have built relationships with and can count on their advocacy for the betterment of the community. It makes the most sense to keep provincial riding boundaries the same as they currently are.
In addition, our cultural landscape is flourishing. Newcomer's to the city such as refugees and new immigrants are often directed to organisations in St. Catharines because groups like Niagara Folk Arts exist - a non profit group that offers settling and culturally sensitive language, housing and employment help. Not only is St. Catharines are attractive to new immigrants, which contributes to the overall general population growth of the city, but the cultural pockets we have here pulls people into this area. These pockets are visible through community centres such as the Armenian centre, the Polish legion, the Ukrainian Canadian congress, 3 Ukrainian Churches, Club Roma that serves our Italian community, the Filipino association and many more. Cultural familiarity means St. Catharines is attractive to newcomers for comfortability reasons, but also because of employment opportunities for young families to wish to raise their children around their own community.
Approximately 40 clubs and resource groups exist throughout the current riding boundaries of St. Catharines, such as Lions Club, Rotary Club, Optimist Clubs, Women's groups, poverty reduction groups, youth groups etc that work with the public to serve the underprivileged across the city and raise funds that support more on the ground organizations, serving marginalised populations where they're at.St. Catharines has the below 22 food banks or food service groups that serve meals and provide food security resources to residents. 34 religious organisations that serve residents and provide support for newcomers.
Cultural Context
The population of St. Catharines is diversifying. Community endeavours unique to our riding such as the Folk Arts Community Centre, support newcomers and immigrants to St. Catharines. With almost 22,000 visible minority households represented in the 2021 census, The Niagara Folk Arts Centre overwhelmingly aids and represents many ethnic communities in St. Catharines. The riding boundaries should remain intact or fall along with the Commissioner's proposed boundaries as the community composition and dynamic supports for newcomers to St. Catharines is specific to this riding. Neighbouring ridings, such as Niagara-on-the-Lake, according to the 2016 census data, had only 4,000 immigrants settle with the total population of visible minorities reaching just over 1,200 people in the community. Other neighbouring ridings such as Jordan, had fewer than 1000 visible minorities (Statistics Canada, 2016) in their riding, suggesting that the urban riding of St. Catharines attracts more of a diverse landscape, furthering the argument that the St. Catharines riding should remain intact.
Reasoning 4 - Historical Riding Boundaries
St. Catharines is unique in Niagara in that it is the only municipality that has a large enough population to justify having its own riding, and this has been the case for over a decade. The recent historical riding boundaries of Niagara are a reflection of that reality, because the changing population increases in St. Catharines has led to a community that shares values. Regressing back to a riding boundary that divides up St. Catharines is one that will do a disservice to smaller, less vertical, less urban communities that may see their voices subsumed by the larger single identity of St. Catharines.
Conclusion
The hashtag used to connect the City of St. Catharines between events, fundraisers, community organizations, and new initiatives is #MyHomeSTC. St. Catharines is a riding that needs to feel connected to its services, its amenities, its community facilities, and its boundaries. From each corner of the riding, the differences within the communities speak to the uniqueness of what the riding has to offer the residents, but also to the all-encompassing nature of the community. Bound together by natural, geographical spaces, the St. Catharines riding celebrates the present-day collection of urban opportunity and looks forward to the future vitality and upward-expansion of the current riding.
References
Community Improvement Plan - City of St. Catharines. (2020). https://www.stcatharines.ca/en/planning-and-development/resources/Community-Improvement-Plan-2020CIP.pdf
Hoverlink. (2022). Transit in the Golden Horseshoe is set to get a lift. https://hoverlinkontario.com/
Invest in STC. (2019). Tourism Sector. https://www.investinstc.ca/site/tourism-sector-st-catharines-business
Planning and Development. (2020). St. Catharines Planning and Development Resouces. https://www.stcatharines.ca/en/planning-and-development/resources/doc_634823689506675420.pdf
Statistics Canada. (2016). Immigration and Citizenship, St. Catharines [Data Table]. https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&G
Statitsics Canada. (2016). Visible Minority, Jordan [Data Table]. https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CSD&Code1=3526057&Geo2=PR&Code2=35&SearchText=Jordan&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=Visible%20minority&TABID=1&type=0
Statistics Canada. (2021). Table 98-10-0002-02 Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories, and census subdivisions (municipalities), St. Catharines [Data Table]. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810000202&geocode=A000235
Redistribution. (2022). Proposal of the federal electoral boundaries commission for the province of Ontario. Redistribution Federal Electoral Districts. https://redecoupage-redistribution-2022.ca/com/on/prop/on-prop_e.pdf