Comment 162 – comments and feedback

Janet Hager

I am a resident of Red Lake, Ontario, and I am opposed to the commission's proposal regarding the redistribution of the Northern Ontario federal ridings. I find it odd that the info I have copied and pasted below, from your website, specifies other factors that need to be considered in addition to "population equality", and yet these factors appear to have been ignored.

The proposed Kiiwetinoong-Mushkegowuk riding's size and scope will require herculean efforts on an MP's part, not to mention a staggering travel budget. We in Red Lake are rural, yes, but we still have a municipal foundation and structure. To put us into a different riding than neighbouring municipalities like Kenora and Dryden, demonstrates a lack of geographical knowledge, and a lack of understanding of our shared culture and history. No one's needs are being met by this subjective decision.

I hope the objections that I, and other Northern Ontario residents are raising will be taken into consideration. A change every 10 years, just for the sake of change, does not always result in the best solution to a perceived problem.

Sincerely,

Janet Hager

However, in addition to population equality, commissions must consider other social and geographic factors. They may choose to create electoral districts whose populations vary from the average, if they consider it necessary or desirable in order to:

• Respect communities of interest or identity (for example, communities based around language or shared culture and history),
• Respect historical patterns of previous electoral boundaries, or
• Maintain a manageable geographic size for districts in sparsely populated, rural or northern regions of the province