Brantford-Brant will be split into three federal ridings if a proposed plan to redraw the boundaries in Ontario is approved.
A three-member commission authorized by the federal government has come up with new boundaries to reflect growth in Ontario’s population to 14.2 million in 2021 from 12.8 million residents in 2011.
The current Brantford-Brant riding includes Brantford, the Brant County communities of Paris, St. George, Burford, Scotland, Oakland, Onondaga, Middleport, and Six Nations of the Grand River and Credit of the Mississaugas First Nation.
Under the proposed changes, there would be a Brantford riding that would include parts of the county: Glen Morris, St. George, Onondaga and Middleport.
Paris, Burford, Scotland and Oakland would be part of a newly created Oxford-Brant riding.
And Six Nations and Credit of the Mississaugas would be part of an expanded Haldimand-Norfolk-Six Nations riding.
The Constitution of Canada requires that federal electoral districts be reviewed after each 10-year census to reflect changes and movements in Canada’s population. The current federal redistribution process began in October 2021. It is led by independent commissions working separately in each province to establish electoral boundaries. The chief electoral officer is tasked with applying the representation formula found in the Constitution to determine the new allocation of seats. Elections Canada is also responsible for providing administrative and technical support to the commissions.
The federal proposal for Ontario includes increasing the number of ridings in the province by one to 122. The target population for each riding is 116,590. The commission allowed deviation from this quota by more or less than 10 per cent.
The Brantford-Brant riding has a population of 132,443. Under the proposal, the Brantford riding would have a population of 118,167. Oxford-Brant would have 124,844 people and Haldimand-Norfolk-Six Nations would have 122,099 people.
The public has a chance to give their input on the proposals before any changes are made. The Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission is holding in-person and virtual public hearings to gather opinions on the proposed boundaries and electoral district names.
A virtual hearing for Hamilton and Niagara; South Central Ontario; Southwestern Ontario; and Southernmost Ontario will be held on Sept. 27 at 6:30 pm The link will be provided to participants. An Ontario-wide virtual hearing will be held Oct. 29 at noon. The link will be provided to participants.
To make a representation at the hearing, residents must complete a public hearing form by Sept. 25 at redecoupage-redistribution-2022.ca/com/on/phrg/form/index_e.aspx
Residents also can provide comments without speaking at the hearings by emailing [email protected] or sending comments by mail to Paula Puddy, commission secretary, Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Ontario, PO Box 37018, Southdale London, ON, N6E 3T3.
All submitted comments will be made public online.
Once finalized, the changes will take effect April 2024 at the earliest.
More information about the proposal is available at redistribution2022.ca.