Part D – Effective Representation of Franco-Ontarians – Ontario
The Commission has taken every step to ensure that the presence and voice of Franco-Ontarians is not diluted by dividing them in such a way as to reduce their weight by riding.
In determining population counts during the preparation of our proposed redistribution plan, the Commission used data from the 2021 Census. The 2021 linguistic data had not been released by Statistics Canada and the Commission instead utilized the available data, namely, from the 2016 Census, in preparing our proposal.
In October 2022, after our proposal was published, the 2021 linguistic data was released by Statistics Canada. The Commission has utilized the more current data in preparing this report.
The Commission received very helpful submissions from the Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario,footnote 1 and implemented their recommendations to the extent possible. The submission contained three recommendations. The first was that the Commission follow the provincial electoral map for Northern Ontario; the second recommended a better grouping of Francophone communities; and the third requested that the Commission's analysis use more inclusive datasets, such as those used to calculate the Potential demand for federal communications and services in the minority official language dataset.
Following these submissions, the Commission has based its analysis on more inclusive data. The tables below show both Mother Tongue and First Official Language Spoken for the ten districts with the largest Francophone population shares.
| Existing Districts (10 Highest Percentage) | Mother Tongue French % | First Official Spoken Language French % |
|---|---|---|
| Glengarry—Prescott—Russell | 54% | 56% |
| Nickel Belt | 35% | 35% |
| Orléans | 28% | 31% |
| Ottawa—Vanier | 24% | 27% |
| Timmins—James Bay | 26% | 26% |
| Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing | 23% | 23% |
| Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry | 17% | 17% |
| Sudbury | 17% | 17% |
| Nipissing—Timiskaming | 14% | 13% |
| Ottawa South | 11% | 13% |
| Final Districts (10 Highest Percentage) | Mother Tongue French % | First Official Spoken Language French % |
|---|---|---|
| Prescott—Russell—Cumberland | 56% | 57% |
| Kapuskasing—Timmins—Mushkegowuk | 35% | 35% |
| Manitoulin—Nickel Belt | 31% | 31% |
| Orléans | 28% | 31% |
| Ottawa—Vanier—Gloucester | 23% | 27% |
| Stormont—Dundas—Glengarry | 19% | 19% |
| Sudbury | 17% | 17% |
| Nipissing—Timiskaming | 14% | 14% |
| Ottawa South | 11% | 13% |
| Ottawa Centre | 9% | 10% |
The Commission has, as requested, considered the Potential demand for federal communications and services in the minority official language dataset. The Commission has applied this data to ensure that municipalities with demands for Francophone services of over 20% are placed in districts with substantial Francophone populations, implementing the third recommendation. This is discussed further in our section on Northern Ontario.
In their first recommendations, the Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario requested that the Commission add two districts in Northern Ontario as was done by the provincial Far North Electoral Boundaries Commission (FNEBC), which resulted in the addition of a majority Francophone riding. This request was echoed by other Franco-Ontarians. However, as set out above, the Commission's mandate does not allow it to fulfill this request.
We note that the creation of additional districts in consideration of the constitutionally protected language rights of Franco-Ontarians is an issue to be addressed by Parliament.
We endorse the submissions of the Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario that it is important that the Commission ensure that Francophones are grouped together in common constituencies in order to maintain the representation of our linguistic minorities in Parliament.
The submission suggested that the Commission explore various changes to better regroup the Francophone population, especially as concerns the proposed district of Manitoulin—Nickel Belt. The Commission has done so and regrouped to the extent possible. As a result, in drawing the final map, the Commission has returned the largely Franco-Ontarian municipalities of West Nipissing, St.-Charles, French River, and Markstay-Warren to MANITOULIN—NICKEL BELT (with a population that is 31% Francophone), rather than NIPISSING—TIMISKAMING (which is 14% Francophone).
Furthermore, the Commission ensured that the one federal riding where Francophones are in the majority, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell (renamed PRESCOTT—RUSSELL—CUMBERLAND), has been preserved.
| First Official Language French (10 Districts with Highest Percentage) | Existing Districts | Final Districts |
|---|---|---|
| Over 50% | 1 | 1 |
| 40% to 50% | 0 | 0 |
| 30% to 40% | 2 | 3 |
| 20% to 30% | 3 | 1 |
| 10% to 20% | 4 | 5 |
The Commission has endeavoured to maintain the level of the Francophone population in the ten federal electoral districts with the largest Franco-Ontarian populations, as shown in the tables above. This has been done by ensuring that the larger Francophone communities are grouped together in common constituencies.
The Commission recognized that a Francophone population is a community of interest and has not moved such a community from a majority Francophone district to a majority Anglophone district simply to balance population or to comply with a self-imposed limit of deviation from Quota.
The movement of a Francophone community in North Glengarry for other reasons is addressed in our discussion of the Eastern Ontario geographic piece.
Footnotes
Return to footnote 1 The version of this report tabled in Parliament on February 10, 2023 contained a reference to a September 25, 2022 submission from the l'Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario that was subsequently retracted. At the request of l'Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario, all references to the September 25, 2002 submission has been removed. This is further described in the Clarifications section in the Addendum (Disposition of Objections) below.