Comment 35 – comments and feedback

Mehmood Shaikh

I am writing to you today about the proposed electoral districts for Ottawa; specifically, I would like to express my support for the proposed new district of Kanata.

Kanata has seen exponential growth this past decade, and - considering the currently 1,200+ open positions in the Kanata North Technology Park alone, the success of the local business park will further fuel the tremendous growth we have seen in recent years.

Keeping the electoral quotient in mind, I feel it is necessary to centralize our riding’s boundaries around the growing suburban centre, which—in turn—requires moving the sparsely populated rural communities to neighbouring ridings.

In my opinion, the Diefenbunker, Carp Fair, and Carp Farmers’ Market are well defined community staples of the Kanata region; many Kanata residents frequent these sites. Thus, the riding of Kanata should include the Carp area.

Also, I support including the Hazeldean North area into the riding of Kanata as Stittsville and Kanata are similar in interest. Many residents who work in Kanata—Carleton reside in Stittsville, especially the Hazeldean North area. These workers include Canadian Tire Centre employees, hi-tech workers (i.e. workers in businesses along Palladium Drive), etc.

The proposed Kanata boundary clarifies the major intersection of Hazeldean and Terry Fox, as it previously was based on an arbitrary line designed to include one small residential area (Kincardine Park).

The inclusion of Bells Corners into the riding of Kanata satisfies religious interests, as the majority of Muslim Bridlewood residents attend a mosque located in Bells Corners (Jami Omar Mosque). Thus, they would be better served with their place of worship being included in the proposed Kanata riding.

Under this proposal, the areas being removed from our riding have a weak connection to the city of Kanata, specifically:

• The Burnt Lands Road area has a closer interest to the township of Mississippi Mills, rather than an electoral district more closely associated with the City of Ottawa. This was exemplified during the Ottawa power outage during this summer, when Burnt Lands Road. residents opted to use Mississippi Mills township emergency services, rather than drive a significant distance to the closest emergency service station in Carp. Thus, they would be better served by the proposed Lanark—Frontenac riding.
• Students in our rural areas (Kinburn, Fitzroy, etc.) fall under the West Carleton SS catchment area, a catchment area which nearly follows the new boundaries of the new Kanata riding. There would be no material difference to the quality of education or existing catchment areas if these students were moved into the Algonquin—Renfrew—Pembroke riding.
• Many Corkery residents use the health services of Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit/Carleton Place Hospital/Almonte Hospital, rather than drive into the City of Ottawa to use CHEO/Ottawa Hospital services. Thus, they would be better served by the proposed Lanark—Frontenac riding.
• Many Fitzroy and Constance Bay residents are more likely to use the Arnprior Hospital than CHEO/Ottawa Hospital. Thus, they should be added into the Algonquin—Renfrew—Pembroke riding.

Lastly, it is my understanding that the inclusion of Kanata—Carleton's rural populations into neighbouring ridings Lanark—Frontenac and Algonquin—Renfew—Pembroke brings both of these ridings closer to the electoral quotient.

I earnestly implore you to move forward with the Proposed Redistribution Plan, recognizing that the proposed electoral district of Kanata acknowledges past and future growth of Kanata and would enable better representation for this distinct and growing suburb.

Sincerely,

Mehmood Shaikh