Commentaire 7 – commentaires et rétroaction

Jeff Burch

My name is Jeff Burch and I live in Thorold with my wife and my son. I appreciate the opportunity to provide feedback on our electoral boundaries. I currently serve as the Member of Provincial Parliament for Niagara Centre, and have been fortunate to serve in that position since 2018. Prior to my time in Niagara Centre, I served as a St.Catharines City Councilor. I want to thank the Commission for the opportunity to participate in the decennial review of our electoral boundaries. It is my understanding that our riding remains within the permissible 25% variance of the provincial population. Consequently, there is not a need to change the boundaries. It is my belief, and the belief of those in the community I've spoken with on this issue that the existing boundaries will continue to serve the community and its constituents well for the next decade.

The present boundaries include the cities of Port Colborne, Thorold and Welland, and the part of the City of St.Catharines dividing along Glendale and along Twelve Mile Creek. As the commission is aware, the current proposal would rename the riding Niagara South and remove the St.Catharines portions of the riding, and the core of Thorold, with the exception of the part of Thorold south of Highway 20. The proposal would also add Fort Erie to the new Niagara South Riding. It is my perspective that this change would interrupt the social, cultural and economic fabric of the municipalities in the riding, and create geographic confusion and is not reflective of the natural boundaries and geography of infrastructure.

The communities of Welland, Port Colborne and Thorold have a rich history, and have been connected culturally and economically since their inception. Following the opening of the first Welland Canal in 1829, the canal villages of Thorold, Allanburg and Port Robinson — all now communities within the City of Thorold — were created. Welland was similarly formed in the wake of the Canal system and became the village of Welland in 1858. Today, those communities are still heavily intertwined via the canal systems. Culturally, each community has a canal heritage festival, and a ceremony to open the Welland Canal shipping system. The Welland Canal now forms a key section of the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Great Lakes Waterway, connecting Port Weller in St.Catharines to Port Colborne and allows ships to ascend and descend the Niagara Escarpment and bypass Niagara Falls. A key priority of the City of Thorold's strategy plan is to continue to advance the Welland Canal trade courier partnership, including the Hamilton-Oshawa Port Authority MOU to pursue surplus canal lands and to develop an entrepreneurship strategy in collaboration with post-secondary institutions in the region.

The Federal, Provincial and Municipal governments of Niagara Centre are working on the Niagara Ports system, which is a proposed network of three Multimodal Industrial Hubs located along the Welland Canal in Port Colborne, Thorold and Welland, Ontario. In 2020, the Thorold Multimodal Hub was announced, offering more than 500,000 square feet of available indoor warehouse space, and 200-acre outdoor storage and material handling space. It was the first step in the HOPA Ports plan, created by Niagara and civic stakeholders. The hubs in Port Colborne and Welland are in their conceptual stages. Undoubtedly, the future of the multimodal ports plan would benefit from the riding retaining its current boundaries, as the plan is unique to the municipalities within Niagara Centre. In speaking with business leaders of Niagara Centre, they emphasized the importance of the connection between these three municipalities, as business in the region follows the natural boundaries and local infrastructure along the canal system. It is in the community interest to keep Thorold, Port Colborne and Welland connected based on their history and intertwined cultural and economic interests

Another concern I have heard from the community is the proposed separation of Brock University, Western Hill, Schmon Parkway and Burleigh Hill Neighborhoods. Along with the separation of Port Robinson and the more rural areas of Thorold, separated from downtown Thorold. The current proposal from the Commission removes these neighbourhoods from the Niagara Centre riding, and distributes them between the Niagara West and St.Catharines ridings. I am concerned with the proposed suggestion on a few grounds.

Firstly, the geography of the proposed ridings would create voter confusion. With Western Hill and Southern Thorold in the Niagara West Riding, and Brock University, Marsdale and Merritton in the St.Catharines Riding, the current proposal has the St. Catharines riding inorganically jutting into the Niagara West riding, as is seen in this map. The current proposal divides Brock University along Sir Issac Brock Way. The two main parking lots for students fall on the southside of Sir Issac Brock Way. As per the Universities most recent Campus Plan, the majority of academic facilities are located on the north of Sir Issac Brock Way/St.David's road. The south at present is largely undeveloped but represents the fourth quadrant of the campus, and is known as the "South Campus". Brock University plans to develop this South Campus, and the area to South East into the Brock Business Park. The local municipalities, in collaboration with the University have developed strategic plans in order to collaboratively grow this area. Brock University and the students alike would benefit from Brock University and the other areas of Thorold remaining in one riding, in order to ensure consistent stakeholder relations and less voter confusion amongst the students. Many students at Brock live in the South-east quadrant of the campus, in an apartment building group named "The Lofts". The area of Burleigh Hill houses many student neighbourhoods, as does the area of Glenridge that is currently in the Niagara Centre riding. At present, we are able to represent their students and their needs due to this consistency.

As per the guiding principles set out by the Commission on geography, community history, community interests and minority interests, we would encourage the Commission to maintain the current riding boundaries. In my speaking with members of my community and our neighbouring ridings, there is agreement that Niagara Centre retaining its boundaries is important. I would suggest that the Commission consider the attached map, which to my knowledge has all Niagara ridings staying within the provincial average.

Please accept this email in lieu of a virtual or in-person presentation to the committee at the hearing dates. I appreciate the opportunity to provide feedback to the commission, and would welcome the opportunity to explain further.

Sincerely,

Jeff Burch