In one of his last duties as Oxford MP, Dave MacKenzie weighs in on proposed changes
Oxford MP Dave MacKenzie retires today, Friday, Jan. 27, but before stepping down, the long-time MP was able to voice his opposition to proposed federal electoral districts changes – and make a proposal of his own.
“I went to their meeting in London and I spoke against it,” said MacKenzie. “I made my proposal and we sent out notices of what our proposal was to the whole riding. We got a lot of comments back and nobody is supporting what (the commission) is suggesting we should do… but all were in favor of my proposal.”
Federal electoral districts are reviewed by independent commissions every 10 years to reflect changes in population. Their job is to propose new electoral maps by considering populations, communities of identity and interest, historical patterns, and geographic size. The 10 commissions will submit reports to the House of Commons, considering objections from MPs, and prepare final reports in 2023.
Ontario’s commission, consisting of a judge and two professors of political science, held in-person and virtual public hearings from September-November.
According to the Federal Electoral Districts Redistribution website (
https://redecoupage-redistribution-2022.ca/com/on/index_e.aspx
), Feb. 9 is the deadline for commissions to submit initial reports. Objections from MPs will be received from February-May, leading to a final report in September 2023.
The commission has proposed a federal Oxford-Brant riding which would include Paris and Burford, but Tillsonburg would shift into a new Haldimand-Norfolk-Six Nations riding.
MacKenzie said his proposal was “pretty simple.” He suggested Oxford’s boundaries stay as they are on the west and south, keeping Tillsonburg. The southeastern boundary, which includes a portion of Brant County, would stay the same, or as an alternative extend east to include Burford.
“What we were proposing was simple, keeping it very close to what we currently have, and if they thought we should take a little bit more, maybe take the Township of Burford, which would include the village of Burford.”
MacKenzie did not receive a response from the commission, nor did he expect one before his retirement.
“I don’t think that proposal will get delivered until somewhere in February,” he said, noting there is still time before final decisions are made.
“Once they’ve made their decision, it will go to PROC (Procedure and House Affairs Committee) in the House and the PROC committee will look at it, too.”
MacKenzie recalls boundary changes which added seven seats to the House of Commons in 2004, the year he was first elected as Oxford MP, and again in 2013, which added 30 districts in 2015.
“Years ago there was one proposal where Oxford would have been a narrow (district), with parts of Middlesex and Huron or Perth, but that never happened. Sometimes the provisional proposals don’t look anything like the final recommendation that comes out.”
MacKenzie said he talked to Haldimand-Norfolk MP Leslyn Lewis who was opposed to adding Tillsonburg to the Haldimand-Norfolk-Six Nations riding, but said she was agreeable to changes in other areas. Lewis did not return a request for comment.
“Her proposal would have gone along with much of what I was proposing,” said MacKenzie.
The Brantford-Brant riding does not want to lose Paris, he said, and Oxford does not want to add Paris.
“They try to balance it out by population. Brant is over the target right now, but with the changes they made, (Brant) would be two per cent over and it would put us 8-10 per cent over, so it would put us almost exactly where they are now, which is kind of silly. They can divide it up in a different way than they’ve done.
“Whether or not they listen to us, who knows? They don’t have to, but you hope they would.”