Comment 228 – comments and feedback

Ernie Epp

See attached.

Presentation to the 2022 Federal Electoral District Redistribution Commission

2 November 2022

By Zoom

Thank you, Madame Chair! Good evening, Commissioners!

My name is Ernie Epp. I speak as the President of the Thunder Bay-Superior North NDP Riding Association. May I add that I served as Member of Parliament for Thunder Bay-Nipigon—as it was at the time—during the 1984-88 Parliament. This is the fourth time I've had the privilege of addressing a Federal Electoral District Redistribution Commission!

I'd like to begin by thanking the members of the Commission for undertaking this work in support of the democratic process in Ontario. I would also thank other community members [did I mention Dan Cléroux?] who are presenting this evening, for their advocacy of what we think will best serve our communities.

I've lived in Thunder Bay since the summer of 1978 and have long been distressed by the slow growth of population we have experienced. I share the concern of other Northern Ontarians about the effective representation of their interests in a region that provides a great Canadian example of being rich in geography--and history, too—but not in demography. (See Matt Bray and Ernie Epp [eds.], A Vast and Magnificent Land: An Illustrated History of Northern Ontario, financed by the Ontario Ministry of Northern Affairs and published in 1984 by Lakehead and Laurentian Universities.)

May I point out that the Province of Ontario responded to the last Federal redistribution, not by reducing the number of electoral districts in Northern Ontario but rather by adding ridings to ensure that two communities of interest and identity—First Nations and Franco-Ontarians—would receive better representation.

I would urge the Commission to reconsider its proposals in regard to Northern Ontario. The region encompasses seven-eighths of the territory of Ontario, but its residents already elect fewer than a tenth of Ontario?s Members of Parliament. Using the average of 116,590 people as the divisor creates ridings in southern Ontario that one can easily walk across but leads to ridings in Northern Ontario that it can take a day to cross by car. And it?s hard to see much of a community of interest in at least one of the proposed ridings.

I do support the creation of Kiiwetinoong-Mushkegowuk, across the upper part of Northern Ontario. It would be nice if these northern communities were in a smaller riding, but the total population of the proposed riding was only 36,325 in 2021, less than a third of the Ontario divisor. There is an obvious community of interest among these northern communities. They will surely elect an Indigenous candidate, something that would be much less likely to occur in ridings based in Kenora and Timmins.

On the other hand, I question the proposal for a second large riding to encompass so much of the western part of Northern Ontario. I was shocked to see the proposal of a Kenora-Thunder Bay-Rainy River Electoral District. Kenora is a six-hour drive from Thunder Bay, and I feel for my friends in the southern part of Thunder Bay if they have to link their organizations beyond the current Thunder Bay-Rainy River to encompass Kenora, too. As only one example of the lack of any community of interest, the Districts of Kenora and Rainy River live in the Winnipeg media area, whereas we in Thunder Bay enjoy our Toronto connection--and Eastern time, too!

More specifically, I would ask the Commissioners to reconsider the boundary between this new riding and Thunder Bay-Superior North which is proposed within the City of Thunder Bay. The boundary proposed begins—if you will—on Highway 11/17 coming in from Kakabeka Falls, runs briefly along the Lakehead Expressway to the Neebing River and then along that river and the McIntyre River to the lake shore. Such a boundary bisects what was once the City of Fort William. The former boundary between the former cities of Fort William and Port Arthur, which followed the Pole Line from Kakabeka Falls into the urban area and then ran along the Harbour Expressway towards the lake shore, respected the urban community of what was once Fort William. Recognizing this reality will ease the organizational challenges of working within the Electoral District that will ultimately be established for that huge area between the City of Thunder Bay and the Province of Manitoba.

I would like to thank the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for this opportunity to express some of the concerns felt by citizens of Northern Ontario.

Dr. Ernie Epp, President Thunder Bay-Superior North NDP Riding Association xxx-xxx-xxxx xxxx@xxxxxxxxx.ca