Comment 98 – comments and feedback
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Linda Duke
Federal Elections Boundaries Commission for Ontario
The Canadian Constitution was written to protect the rights of Canadian citizens, giving them the right to choose who represents them in Government.
In the latest election, people in Northern Ontario voted for the representatives for their Districts. Now the Federal Elections boundaries commission plans to change the map, giving Northern Ontario one less seat. Which means we lose our elected Representatives as well!
Following a numerical formula being implemented by this Commission shows no regard for the communities in the North. The vast distances of communities may not have the "required" numerical population, but it contains real people who would be lost if merged with the nearest large city. The 1991 Supreme Court Carter decision from Saskatchewan holds that the right to vote depends not on equality of voting power, but the right to effective representation.
In Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing District, Carol Hughes, our elected Representative for many elections, works hard, travelling the huge riding, getting to know the people and their needs. We know her, she is well respected by the citizens, and by Parliament, having been chosen as Assistant Deputy Speaker, Chair of the Committee of the Whole, and has led in the fight to maintain 10 federal districts in northern Ontario.
Why is her District slashed, while Southern Ontario keeps theirs, and gets more? This is just numbers on a map without regard for the citizens involved! The distances we have to travel to participate in these in-person hearings means most have no say. Will written objections be considered? Why have we lost our right to be represented? Large cities have enough to do with their many issues. We will be lost in the shuffle! No wonder people are upset with the political system. It does not represent us, the tax-paying citizens making up Northern Ontario…and our home, Canada. Please reconsider this change. It affects us, not those who sit around a table making decisions! Leave things as they are, they are working!
Mrs Linda Duke xx xxxx xxxx Elliot Lake On xxx xxx
Mrs Linda Duke
Sept 20, 2022