Niagara, Ontario Faces Major Federal And Provincial Riding Boundary Changes

By Doug Draper 

Whether or not you like the federal or provincial government representatives you now have, you may wake up one day and find out you are living in another riding.

Federal bureaucrats in Ottawa have recently drawn up new boundaries for electoral ridings across Canada and in Niagara, Ontario, it looks like the communities of Fort Erie and Thorold would be affected the most. 

Fore Erie, which is now in a Niagara Falls riding with Liberal Kim Craitor as its provincial representative and Conservative Rob Nicholson as its federal representative, would go to the Welland riding where NDP Cindy Forster is the provincial representative and NDP Malcolm Allen is the federal representative. At the same time Forster’s and Allen’s Welland riding would give up Thorold and south St. Catharines to ridings stretching west through Pelham, Lincoln, West Lincoln and Grimsby and are now held by provincial Conservative Party leader Tim Hudak and federal Conservative representative Dean Allison.

The federal and provincial ridings of Niagara Falls would continue to encompass that city and, as it has for years, the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, after shedding Fort Erie, and the federal and provincial ridings of St. Catharines would more or less remain the same.

All of this is being done by the federal government in an apparent attempt to ‘better distribute elected representation’ across Ontario and the rest of the country, and of course it will mean more – certainly not fewer – members of parliament. 

There have been some stories about these proposed riding boundary changes earlier this year, but apparently many people are just finding out about them and calling their MPs and MPPs. (Isn’t it interesting how matters like this are released in the summer when people are enjoying the outdoors and less apt to be paying attention?)

Now here is the important part if you are concerned about these proposed changes and may want to contact the federal government about them before it is too late. You apparently only have until October 1 – yes just a few days as of the posting of this commentary – to submit your concerns and to register to speak at the one and only public meeting scheduled for this matter  on Monday, October 29 at the city hall building in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

With that in mind, Welland Riding MPP Cindy Forster has circulated the following “urgent” message to area residents with information on how they can register their concerns and to do so, even if you can’t meet the October 1 deadline.

Here is the release from Cindy Forster.

Cindy Forster, MPP urges people to make their views known on proposed boundary changes in the Welland Riding.

        Deadline for Notice of Representation is October 1, 2012

The Ontario Electoral Boundaries Commission will be holding one meeting in Niagara Region to deal with the crucial issue of changes to ridings in Niagara including Welland and Niagara Falls. Forster will also be sending a letter to the commission on why such little notification considering the boundary changes were issued in a media release August 27, 2012. About one month for people to become aware, study the changes and make a submission.

The meeting is being held on Monday, October 29^th, 2012 at 1:00 p.m. at Niagara Falls City Hall Council Chambers, 4310 Queen Street.

Under the plan, Thorold would be shifted to Niagara West Glanbrook Riding while Fort Erie would become part of the Welland Riding. Whether or not you agree it’s extremely important to make your views known for the commission to make a decision on whether or not to proceed or look at other alternatives. 

Forster stresses the importance of voters carefully studying how the boundaries will be redrawn. All stand alone written submissions must be made by Monday, October 1, 2012, the same deadline to request an appearance at a public hearing.

The online form is available on the commission web site at  http://www.redecoupage-federal-redistribution.ca/email.asp?section=on&lang=e. There is also a view of the present and proposed boundaries on the Ontario Electoral Boundaries Commission website. For further information the commission can also be emailed at ontario@rfed-rcf.ca or Telephone toll-free at 1 855-747-7224.  

This NAL publisher will end with this question: What were these pinhead bureacrats in Ottawa thinking when they took out their box of crayons and drew these new riding boundary lines? I am sure, just as an example, that Ontario Tory MPP Tim Hudak would be just as thrilled to include the more urban, blue-collar types in Thorold in his riding, as much as the people of Thorold want to be lumped in with a predominantly western Niagara rural riding of people with more socially conservative values.  Yet here we are, dealing with this, as if we don’t have enough on our plate in this tough economy that shows little mercy when it comes to our jobs and struggle to pay our bills. 

(Niagara At Large invites you to share your views on this post. Please note that NAL only posts comments by individuals who share their first and last names.)