Changes to local ridings, as proposed by the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Ontario, have several politicians upset, including Dawn-Euphemia’s mayor, Alan Broad.
The rural township to the northeast of Wallaceburg would be cut in half – the Dawn portion would be placed into the new riding of Sarnia-Lambton-Bkejwanong, while the Euphemia portion would be lumped into the new riding of Elgin-Middlesex-Thames.
Broad said his council is expected to send the commission its objections to the proposal.
“They’ve cut our municipality right in half,” he said. “As a small community, we have enough problems as it is trying to get funding from the federal government. Now, we would have to involve two MPs, which just doesn’t make any sense.”
The proposals would place three ridings into Lambton County, and three into Chatham-Kent.
Wallaceburg and Dresden, which were once part of the riding of Lambton-Kent-Middlesex, would be grouped into the Sarnia-Lambton-Bkejwanong.
But nearby communities like Thamesville and Bothwell, that were also once part of Lambton-Kent-Middlesex, would be shifted over to the new Elgin-Middlesex-Thames riding – which would include Strathroy-Caradoc, West Elgin, Dutton and Rodney, as well as Thames Center and Aylmer.
Lambton Warden Kevin Marriott says dividing the county’s municipalities amongst three different federal electoral districts “is kind of disappointing” and “it feels quite fractured.
“As warden, I’d like to see the county in as close to one riding as you can get,” Marriott said.
Ontario was allocated an additional seat in Parliament following the 2021 census and the commission was established to develop proposals for electoral district boundaries in the province. The commission released its proposal in August and is holding virtual and in-person public hearings in September and October, as well as accepting public comments until Sept. 25. Information is available online at redistribution2022.ca.
A final proposal is expected to go to Parliament for a decision later this year
Marriott said he doubts the hearings or public comments will change the ultimate outcome.
“They might go through the illusion of listening to us, but they probably won’t,” he said.
Bill Weber, mayor of Lambton Shores, said he has spoken to Lambton-Kent-Middlesex MP Lianne Rood about his concerns with the proposal, which would slice his community off from Lambton and make it part of an extended lakefront district.
“It just seems wrong to me,” Weber said.
Weber said he plans to ask Lambton Shores council for a resolution asking the proposal be reconsidered.
Sarnia-Lambton MP Marilyn Gladu said the district is already within the population range target set out for the process.
“This is not serving anybody in a better way,” she said about the proposed changes.
If the commission wants to increase the size of Sarnia-Lambton, it could just add the Lambton communities currently part of the neighboring Lambton-Kent-Middlesex electoral district, she said.
“That would make some sense,” Gladu said.
The population of the new Sarnia-Lambton-Bkejwanong district proposed by the commission would be 127,200, according to the commission. Lambton County’s population was 128,154 in 2021, according to the census.
The federal proposal for Ontario would increase the number of ridings in the province by one to 122. The target population for each riding is 116,590. The commission is allowed a deviation from this quota by more or less than 10 per cent.
A virtual hearing on the proposed ridings, including those for Southwestern Ontario and Southernmost Ontario, will be held Sept. 27 at 6:30 pm An Ontario-wide virtual hearing will be held Oct. 29 at 12 pm The link will be provided to participants .
The only in-person hearing for the region will be held in London at Ivey Spencer Leadership Center Oct. 26 at 6:30 pm
To participate, residents must complete a public hearing form at https://redecoupage-redistribution-2022.ca/com/on/phrg/form/index_e.aspx where they can also select the hearing they wish to attend.
The form must be filled out by Sept. 25.
Residents can also provide comments without speaking at the hearings by emailing [email protected] or sending comments by mail to Ms. 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 www.redistribution2022.ca.
-with files from Paul Morden