Comment 6 – comments and feedback
Back to all comments and feedback from the public
Brenda Vouvalidis
I'm writing to express my concern with the proposed London South-St Thomas riding.
I am not in favour of this proposal as it is attempting to group 2 very different urban areas, along with a chunk of rural/agricultural lands. All these areas have very different issues and demographics when it comes to election time, and this will discourage voting. It is very difficult for people to feel heard when there are so many disparate issues that don't apply to them This discourages people from voting, since they feel their vote doesn't count.
I speak from personal experience as I currently reside in a section of London Fanshawe that has little in common with most of the rest of the riding. We are a small area that seems to be tacked on to round up the numbers, but the demographics make no sense. As a result I have seen over the last several elections, people not bother to vote because it isn't going to make any difference. I do always vote but understand this feeling, since the main issues of the riding are usually not mine, and so my vote never really counts. This is terrible!
My area (South London) has very little in common with St Thomas, and nothing at all in common with rural/agricultural concerns. Why would you split us off from the rest of the city of London? And I have to think agricultural & rural voters will be in such a minority in this large area that they will lose their voice completely. This in turn dilutes the voices from southwestern Ontario and puts more decision making votes into the concentrated ridings of Toronto, which is a concern for all Ontarians outside of Toronto.
Also, the proposed London South-St Thomas riding spreads across 3 different municipal groups (London, St. Thomas & Middlesex County). How is that supposed to work when it comes to funding and services? How is an MPP supposed to work with that? Their constituents will have unequal access, depending where they live.
This proposed riding makes no sense, and will erode the value of every vote in the impacted area.
Please reconsider and revise along logical boundaries and demographics.
Respectfully,
Brenda Vouvalidis