Commentaire 40 – commentaires et rétroaction

Patricia Desjardins

I am writing to express my disagreement with the plans to cut a seat from Northern Ontario to give it to urban southern Ontario. The following points will explain why I see this decision as unjust and unnecessary.

Ontario ruled the north needed more representation

In 2017 the Provincial Boundary Commission of Ontario ruled that Northern Ontario, with 11 seats, was politically underrepresented. They added two new seats to the North to raise the number to 13 representatives. It is not credible for the Federal Boundary Commission to take a contrary position stating that Northern Ontario, with 10 seats, is somehow overrepresented.

It is perfectly reasonable for the Commission to increase representation in growing urban ridings but to do so at the expense of the underrepresented North creates a scenario where voices and regions are excluded from the democratic process.

Northern ontario compared to other rural regions

The courts have ruled that representation by population in Canada is a key principle for democratic engagement, but it is not the only consideration. The Commissioners must also consider the ability of regions and communities of interest to be adequately represented. If representation by population were the only standard, many ridings would disappear in Nunavut, Western Arctic, Prince Edward Island, Labrador Yukon, plus ridings in rural New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Saskatchewan. Northern Ontario has ridings with larger population averages than many of these regions.

The court ruling on adequate representation

The courts have ruled in Canada on the needs of rural and northern regions when issues of electoral redistribution are considered. For example the Saskatchewan Supreme Court ruled: "Relative parity of voting power is a prime condition of effective representation. Deviations from absolute voter parity, however, may be justified on the grounds of practical impossibility or the provision of more effective representation. Factors like geography, community history, community interests and minority representation may need to be taken into account to ensure that our legislative assemblies effectively represent the diversity of our social mosaic. Beyond this, dilution of one citizen's vote as compared with another's should not be countenanced." "The history or philosophy of Canadian democracy does not suggest that the framers of the Charter in enacting s. 3 had the attainment of voter parity as their ultimate goal. Their goal, rather, was to recognize the right long affirmed in this country to effective representation in a system which gives due weight to voter equity but admits other considerations where necessary. Effective representation and good government in this country compel that factors other than voter parity, such as geography and community interests, be taken into account in setting electoral boundaries. Departures from the Canadian ideal of effective representation, where they exist, will be found to violate s. 3 of the Charter."

Communities of interest

Northern Ontario represents a community of interest that is fundamentally distinct from southern Ontario in terms of history, identity, minority communities, work, and economics. The region is growing, with centres like Timmins facing a massive influx in immigration plus issues of labour shortages that must be addressed. Since the last census, the population of the North has grown; it just hasn't grown at the explosive rate in the urban south. To remove seats because the region isn't growing fast enough is to punish the North and compound the issues, we deal with in attracting immigration and development.

Francophone representation

One of the fundamental differences between urban southern Ontario and the North is the tri-cultural identity of Northern communities - anglophone, francophone, and Indigenous. The franco-Ontarian community is distinct and has faced numerous attempts to undermine its political voice in Ontario (note recent struggles over the francophone hospital and university). To remove Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing from the House of Commons would be to remove an important voice for the distinct rural and northern francophone community in Ontario.

Indigenous representation

Across Northern Ontario, Indigenous identity and communities play an increasingly important role in development. In whatever riding you look at across the North, Indigenous communities require more engagement, support, and recognition of their rights. We support the principle of creating an Indigenous-based riding in Northern Treaty 9. However, the immense proposed region and the number of isolated fly-in communities will set it up for failure.

It would be reasonable to create a riding similar to the provincial Kiiwetenoong in the Northwest. The communities of James Bay, however, have a longstanding connection to Cochrane and Timmins. The city of Timmins is the largest Cree-speaking community in the northeast. There are strong connections in health services, education, and familial ties between the Mushkegowuk Cree communities and the Timmins-Cochrane region.

Federal services

The Boundary Commission is tasked with questions of population and representation. Still, they must consider that MP offices have become the de facto government service outlet in the rural North. Many services that are available in terms of immigration, etc. in the urban centres are handled by the MP offices. As such, we spend much of our time travelling from community to community conducting outreach clinics to help constituents with pension issues, EI problems, and immigration needs. In the proposed new riding of Timmins-Cochrane, it will not be possible to provide the services to Hearst-Kapuskasing, or Temiskaming Shores-Cobalt-Latchford presently provided because the MP budget for Timmins-James Bay is already spent servicing the existing communities. These communities that are being added have MP offices because 10 ridings in the North allow us to stretch services to cover vast areas but adding many more communities will make that work impossible.

I ask that you consider all of this information before making any decision to further decimate the representation in Northern Ontario.

Regards,

Patricia Desjardins