Comment 88 – comments and feedback

Nathan Dias, CAO-Clerk of the Corporation of the Township of Schreiber

The Corporation of the Township of Schreiber

Resolution: 226-22 Date: September 13, 2022

That whereas the Constitution of Canada-requires that federal electoral districts be reviewed every ten years;

And whereas the 2022 Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for the Province of Ontario was established as an independent commission to reconfigure the boundaries of Ontario's electoral districts;

And whereas the Commission has proposed a new electoral map for consideration at public hearings commencing in September 2022;

And whereas the proposal of the Commission would reduce the number of federal electoral districts in Northern Ontario from ten to nine;

And whereas the proposal would see the two largest ridings in the far north, Kenora and Timmins-James Bay, amended and combined into one massive riding called Kiiwetinoong-Mushkegowuk, spanning from the Manitoba border to Quebec, and Kenora's current riding boundary readjusted dramatically and combined with Thunder Bay-Rainy River, with further significant changes to the Thunder Bay-Superior North and Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing boundaries;

And whereas the legislation would in fact support, according to the population quota to be applied by the Commission, a reduction of two, but the commission has recommended one;

And whereas the Commission itself concluded any "further reduction in the number of districts in the north would imperil the principle of effective representation in this part of the province, considering its widely dispersed population and communities of interest";

And whereas the Kenora district was deemed an "extraordinary circumstance" in 2012 during the last boundary review, and because of which it was not revised at that time;

And the boundary proposal, if approved, would reduce the overall number of Northern Federal representatives in the House of Commons, further diluting the voice of Northern Ontario residents on federal matters, and in the Commission's own words, would "imperil the principle of effective representation";

And whereas the voice of the North in the House of Commons is already imperiled and underrepresented by so few seats;

Now therefore be it resolved that the Council of the Township of Schreiber strongly opposes the proposed reduction of Northern ridings and representatives;

Further that copies of this resolution be forwarded to P Hajdu, MP Thunder Bay-Superior North, the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Ontario, the Kenora District Municipal Association, the Rainy-River District Municipal Association and the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association.

Carried