Comment 23 – comments and feedback

Philip Charbonneau

First, I'd like to thank you all for being members of the Ontario Commission. I know that doing these redistributions can be a complex, time consuming and an often thankless job. Many citizens don't understand the balancing act needed between population growth, political history, municipal and natural boundaries and cultural/linguistic considerations for the foundation of our riding boundaries. So, again, thank you for taking the time out of your lives to do this service.

I have some recommendations on the boundaries proposed. I've divided this message into the three areas of the province I have suggestions for, namely the area around Waterloo region, the Windsor-Essex area, and Halton region. Additionally, I have included a few comments about other specific areas or ridings that didn't need a full detailed section. I've included maps I've made of my suggested adjustments to the proposed boundaries.

Waterloo Region and Area:

Kitchener Centre: Generally, I agree with the proposed boundaries of this riding, but suggest some small adjustments I feel make the boundaries more clear and maintain neighbourhood integrity. The proposed boundary has shifted away from Fairway Road to split off sections of the Centreville and Idlewood neighbourhoods into the neighbouring riding of Kitchener South-North Dumfries. I suggest bringing the boundary back to Fairway Road as this maintains the integrity of these neighbourhoods in a single riding. To keep the balance of population, I suggest moving the added Kitchener communities from the Waterloo riding (the Bridgeport area) and a small section of west Kitchener to the riding of Kitchener-Conestoga. Kitchener Conestoga already contains a significant portion of west Kitchener, so adding further parts would be inline with the precedent of existing boundaries. I would also argue the Bridgeport section taken from the Waterloo riding would be better coupled with Kitchener Conestoga. The community of Bridgeport lies on the other side of the Grand River from the rest of Kitchener and has more geographic and relational ties with the neighbouring township communities of Bloomingdale and Breslau, both of which are in Kitchener-Conestoga.

Kitchener-Conestoga: As mentioned above, I suggest transferring the community of Bridgeport and a small portion of west Kitchener to this riding. I also suggest returning the western communities of Kitchener which form the current boundaries of the riding, and are now transferred to the proposed riding of Kitchener South-North Dumfries. Maintaining the continuity of representation is important to develop local political culture and transferring these neighbourhoods between ridings does not appear to offer any benefit to the voters there. To keep the balance of population, I suggest transferring the portion of the community of Hespeler lying north of the Speed River included in the proposed boundaries to another, discussed in more detail below.

Cambridge and Kitchener South-North Dumfries: I suggest returning these two ridings mostly back to how they were arranged in the last redistribution with the community of Hespeler included with south Kitchener and North Dumfries with Cambridge. North Dumfries, while a township with its own unique culture, economy, and rural needs, is more oriented towards Cambridge than Kitchener. Many citizens in Saint George or Ayr commute to Cambridge for work and many major roads flow into Cambridge rather than Kitchener. Further, the city of Cambridge is an amalgamation of three cities (Galt, Preston and Hespeler), and these three communities have maintained their distinctive identities and town centres. It was noted in the details of the proposed redistribution that returning a portion of Hespeler to the riding of Cambridge would "better unify the City of Cambridge." However, the proposal splits the community of Hespeler in two and transfers this section of the community north of the Speed River to a riding dominated by the City of Kitchener and rural townships. I suggest it would be better to maintain the integrity of the community of Hespeler by including it, in its entirety, into a single riding paired with neighbourhoods of south Kitchener. To keep the balance of population in Cambridge reasonable, I would suggest transferring the communities of Blair and Preston Heights to the riding of Kitchener South-Hespeler. These two communities are separated from the city of Cambridge by Highway 401 and the Grand River and are connected to south Kitchener via Fountain Street. Additionally, the Conestoga College campus straddles both sides of the 401 being in both south Kitchener and the village of Blair which further suggests a connection between these communities. I would finally suggest the riding of Cambridge be renamed Cambridge-North Dumfries to recognize the distinctiveness of the township and people who live there.

Brantford: Shrinking the size of this riding to a more balanced and reasonable size was certainly necessary, however the transferring out of the Six Nations and New Credit First Nations, I argue, is not wise. The Six Nations reserve territory extends into part of the City of Brantford so maintaining reserve integrity I suggest is important. Additionally, Brantford is home to a number of cultural locations important to local First Nations peoples (Woodland Cultural Centre and Mohawk Chapel for example) so keeping these communities and these institutions together in the same riding seems right. There is also a significant community of Indigenous and First Nations peoples living in Brantford where many community, cultural and social services are. With this all in mind, I suggest maintaining the pairing of the City of Brantford, Six Nations and New Credit is a better fit than transferring these First Nations communities into Haldimand-Norfolk. I would also suggest a small adjustment to the boundary by the town of Paris. The neighbourhood bounded by Highway 24, Highway 403, Powerline Road, and the Grand River is an extension of the town of Paris with many new developments going up there. My suggestion is to include this area with whatever riding contains the town of Paris using the 403 as a boundary. The riding could be renamed Brandford-Six Nations, or to a name that reflects the Indigenous name for the Grand River which runs through both communities, O:se Kenhionhata:tie or Willow River.

Thank you again for your time and dedication to this process. I hope my suggestions are helpful and I'm looking forward to seeing the final boundaries.

Have a wonderful day,

Philip Charbonneau