Comment 208 – comments and feedback

Jason Small

I would like to express my general support for the effort undertaken by the commission to greatly improve voter parity across most of the province (compared to the previous redistribution) in preparing their proposed boundaries.

However, I feel that the proposed districts in Northern Ontario amount to an unreasonable over-representation for the population in that area. I recognize the validity of the "extraordinary circumstance" for proposing the low population district of Kiiwetinoon-Mushkegowuk, given that the extreme remoteness and high Indigenous population of this area substantially differentiates it from the rest of the province. However, even with that district constituted as proposed, the population of the remainder of Northern Ontario would only merit seven districts based on the Quota whereas eight districts have been proposed with no justification in the report for the over-representation other than vague statements as to the "widely dispersed population" affecting "effective representation".

As I myself do not live in Northern Ontario, I have reviewed the written submissions left by others on this subject to better understand their perspective. I noticed that one of the main concerns conveyed was regarding the ability for MPs to travel across the vast districts and for constituents to travel to an MP's office in order to meet. I believe that the underlying view that the ability for MPs to meet in person with their constituents should govern the size of electoral districts (and therefore lead to rural populations being over-represented) is quite outdated given that modern technology has provided the ability for politicians to interact with their constituents virtually. While I recognize that many areas of Northern Ontario have poor internet connectivity, surely it is possible for constituents to access a sufficient connection in a community reasonably close to them rather than traveling all the way to their MP's office. Additionally, Parliament could provide MPs representing rural and remote areas with a greater office budget so that they could run multiple staffed offices across their districts to better serve constituents.

Therefore, I would recommend that the commission adjust its proposal by reallocating one district from Northern Ontario to a less represented area of the province, while maintaining the Kiiwetinoon-Mushkegowuk district as proposed. While doing so, I would suggest that the boundaries be arranged such that Thunder Bay forms a single, primarily urban, district rather than being split into two urban-rural districts as currently proposed.

Regards,

Jason Small