Comment 32 – comments and feedback

Cathy Hoffman

General Manager, Corporate Services/Chief Human Resource Officer

Dear honourable members of the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Ontario,

On behalf of the Municipality of Chatham-Kent and as the General Manager of Corporate Services that oversees Municipal Governance and the Election, I write to you with concern over the proposed redrawing of the riding boundaries in Ontario, and specifically, our ridings of Lambton-Kent-Middlesex and Chatham-Kent-Leamington. The new proposal would see the Municipality of Chatham-Kent moving from a two-riding entity to a three riding entity.

The Municipality of Chatham-Kent was created in 1998 by amalgamation of 23 former municipalities and importantly, includes the Delaware Nation at Moraviantown and Walpole Island. Now steeped in rich governance and heritage history, the single tier outcome was conceived less than 25 years ago as a community of interest and defined the current level of local services and the delivery thereof.

Chatham-Kent is currently part of two-ridings—Chatham-Kent-Leamington and Lambton-Kent Middlesex. The new proposal would split Chatham-Kent into three federal ridings, losing Moraviantown.

Chatham-Kent is a geographically expansive community, making it difficult to grow population in the same way that other municipalities who have access to better infrastructure and resources and it would be a disservice to this community to have its representation dwindled in deference to satisfy the population growth in bigger centres.

The residents and administrators of Chatham-Kent are no strangers to the redrawing of boundaries. They understand the opportunities and the shortcomings. Based on the C-K experience and lessons learned through our own experience, we have two asks:

1. Extend public consultation to allow for more fulsome debate, undistracted by ongoing municipal elections.
2. Consider the proposal put forward by Member of Parliament Lianne Rood. Her submission outlines key considerations for keep our communities together, particularly those with rural dynamics.

Sincerely,