Comment 50 – comments and feedback

Chad Crew

My name is Chad Crew and I am a resident of the riding known as Kanata - Carleton. I am emailing you today to voice my objection to the proposed changes to my riding's boundaries. My objections will be summarized in the comments below.

I will begin by summarizing the proposed boundary changes as I understand them. The proposal would see that my current riding lose the majority of its rural communities that are historically closely connected to the west end neighbourhood known as Kanata. These communities are collectively known as West Carleton and they constitute a number of communities such as Constance Bay, Fitzroy Harbor, Kinburn, Woodlawn, Buckhams Bay, Dunrobin, Carp, Corkery, Huntley and more. The proposal would have Kanata become its own riding along with some adjacent communities imported from Nepean and Carleton while the West Carleton area would be absorbed by the ridings of Lanark - Frontenac - Kingston and Renfrew - Nippising - Pembroke.

This proposal is both shocking and concerning to me as a member of the community for a number of reasons. These reasons range from geographic and cultural considerations to concern for how the affected areas will be perceived by different levels of government.

Allow me to explain. The communities of West Carleton are municipally considered to be within the boundaries of the City of Ottawa. This municipal ward is known as West Carleton - March and for many in the west end it is a cherished area that is as much a part of our home as the downtown core and historical urban areas. The proposed changes would have these communities absorbed by ridings not considered to be "Ottawa Ridings". As the riding boundaries stand currently, this area is part of the city of Ottawa on all 3 levels of government. This proposed change would in my opinion have a number of negative consequences for those in the community such as further disenfranchisement for an area that had traditionally resented a lack of attention provided to it by the city due to its rural nature. Being federally and potentially provincially considered a rural area separate from the city in which it is officially a part of would only further peoples estrangement and alienation rather than fostering a sense of belonging. This is especially worth noting at such a critical point in time when a number of recent developments have begun to change certain parts of the area into a more suburban community expected of city outskirts. In the next few years and decades, as Ottawa expands, this trend is only expected to continue, and therefore it would be illogical to incorporate them into ridings that are largely rural.

Also, residents of these affected areas would be forced to travel in some cases upwards of 100 kilometers in order to see their representative. This is unacceptable in my opinion for Southern/Eastern Ontario.

I would further like to point out the fact that the communities of Kanata and West Carleton are culturally, historically and economically connected. People from the rural communities of West Carleton come into Kanata in order to shop, work, socialize, enjoy their leisure time and partake in a number of other day to day activities that can be expected when a rural area is adjacent to a suburban one. The opposite is also true as many in Kanata will go to West Carleton to enjoy events such as the Carp Fair, recreational areas such as the beaches and cottages found along the river or restaurants such as the famous Cheshire Cat.

These two communities have coexisted together for decades and in my opinion, this proposal makes a mockery of these considerations. The intrinsic connection our communities share has been dismissed in favor of categorizing ridings according to either "urban/suburban" or "rural". The reality of our community's situation is not so simple and I urge you to hear me out on these arguments. For the sake of the people and their local identity I request that West Carleton be kept within the same boundaries as Kanata.

I would like to conclude by briefly mentioning that communities such as Bell's Corners and parts of Stittsville that are set to be incorporated into the new riding of Kanata do not in any way consider themselves part of Kanata. These areas have unique identities despite their close proximity and would not consider themselves to be part of Kanata in any sense.

Sincerely,

Chad Crew