Comment 80 – comments and feedback

Guylaine Coulombe, CAO/Clerk, Municipality of Mattice-Val Côté

Vous trouverez ci-jointe la résolution du Conseil municipal de Mattice – Val Côté s'opposant à la proposition actuelle du découpage des circonscriptions électorales dans le nord de l'Ontario, découpage qui viendrait affaiblir la voix et le poids de la population qui habite cette région.

Municipality of / Municipalité de Mattice-Val Côté

Resolution no. 22-169

Moved by:

Joyce Malenfant

Seconded by:

Daniel Grenier

Whereas the Electoral Boundary Commission has proposed to remove one of the electoral ridings from Norther Ontario, and;

Whereas the proposal to diminish Northern Ontario's voice in Parliament will have a detrimental effect on participatory democracy and regional development, as the issues in Northern Ontario are significantly different than the issues facing the urban south, and;

Whereas the Federal Boundary Commission's proposal to cut representation in the north is contrary to the 2017 electoral boundary changes for Ontario that recognized the need to add two seats to ensure fair representation for northern residents, and;

Whereas many of the existing ridings in Northern Ontario are already larger than many European countries, a situation that will only be worsened by the addition of massively new regions to service, and;

Whereas the proposed new super-ridings will force municipalities to compete for a limited amount of riding funding, which will further exacerbate inequities in the north, and;

Whereas Northern Ontario's population per riding is already much higher than many other rural and isolated regions in Canada's north, and;

Whereas the courts have ruled that representation in Canada's democracy in not based merely on population but also on regions of interest and on the right of citizens to engage with their election representatives, and;

Whereas any changes to electoral boundaries should be based on the principles of maintaining communities of interest within boundaries that are equitable in terms of population and geography;

Now therefore be it resolved that Council for the Municipality of Mattice – Val Côté calls on the Electoral Boundary Commission to maintain the electoral representation of Northern Ontario and to ensure that any boundary changes are done in a manner that responds to regional and local need, and;

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission and to our local federal and provincial parliament representatives, MP Carol Hughes and MPP Guy Bourgouin.

Carried

I, Guylaine Coulombe, CAO/Clerk of the Municipality of Mattice – Val Côté, do hereby certify this to be a true and complete copy of Resolution 22-169, passed by the Council of the Municipality of Mattice – Val Côté at its meeting held the 27th day of September 2022.

Dated at Mattice, Ontario This 7th day of October 2022

(original signed by) Guylaine Coulombe