A letter-writing campaign is being organized by the City of Greater Sudbury to “bombard” the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission with input from Northern Ontarians.
This, because their proposed redistribution of federal electoral districts offers “further evidence that they do not understand Northern Ontario,” Ward 12 Coun. Joscelyne Landry-Altmann said.
The councillor spoke up during Tuesday’s city council meeting, at which Ward 7 Coun. Mike Jakubo and Ward 9 Coun. Deb McIntosh put forward a successful motion for the city to issue a letter advocating against the proposed redistribution.
Last month, Northern Ontario’s 10 MPs also pushed back against the proposed riding boundary change, which Jakubo said exemplifies the non-partisan nature of their point of advocacy.
During Tuesday’s meeting, Mayor Brian Bigger said he found the proposed changes “very concerning,” and that he’s concerned it will “further dilute our representation in the north.”
The proposed change, for which a map is available by clicking here, includes a reduction in Northern Ontario ridings from 10 to nine and the reconfiguration of various ridings, including both the Sudbury and Nickel Belt ridings.
Nickel Belt would become Manitoulin-Nickel Belt, and would technically no longer be a belt around the Sudbury riding. The riding would stretch from the U.S. border east to encompass Manitoulin Island and the French River region as far east as Noelville, as well as Espanola and Elliot Lake. The northern border of the riding would extend from west of Biscotasi Lake Provincial Park to Obabika River Provincial Provincial Park.
The Sudbury riding would keep its name, but grow to encompass Coniston and Wahnapitae nearly as far east as Stinson, and would grow to the north to include Capreol, Garson, Falconbridge and the Greater Sudbury Airport.
If the proposed changes were implemented, the new Sudbury electoral district’s population would be 113,618 and Manitoulin-Nickel Belt’s population would be 99,268.
Current federal listings cite the Sudbury electoral district population at 91,532 and the Nickel Belt population at 93,772, so the change would bring them closer to the population of 116,590 sought for each of the province’s 122 federal electoral districts.
Of central concern to Jakubo is that Northern Ontario’s voice would be “diminished” as a result of reducing the region’s number of seats in Ottawa by one.
“There doesn’t seem to be any consideration whatsoever for the geographic size … of Northern Ontario, nor our differing concerns,” McIntosh said.
The public consultation process is also lacking, she said, with the only in-person meeting in Northeastern Ontario scheduled to take place in Timmins on Oct. 11.
“I don’t think this is on the radar of a lot of people in Northern Ontario and in our city,” she said, adding it hasn’t received the kind of public profile it deserves.
City council supported Jakubo and McIntosh’s motion, though an abstention by Ward 2 Coun. Michael Vagnini prevented it from being the unanimous support they’d hoped for.
“You want consensus around the table to show strong support in what we’re doing, and Vagnini abstaining from the vote means a ‘no’ vote,” Ward 11 Coun. Bill Leduc told Sudbury.com after the meeting.
Leduc brought attention to Vagnini’s vote during Tuesday’s meeting, at which he asked Vagnini – the only member of council to attend the meeting virtually rather than in-person – whether he understood what he was doing.
“I’m aware of that and I don’t need Coun. Leduc to tell me about Robert’s Rules (of Order),” Vagnini responded.
“He’s quite clear he didn’t want to support it by abstaining,” Leduc told Sudbury.com, adding that it’s unclear why the councillor did not support the effort.
Sudbury.com reached out to Vagnini by text and email seeking an explanation for his abstention, but have not received a response.
With Tuesday’s motion passing, a letter from the city expressing opposition to the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission’s proposed changes will be sent to the organization’s secretary, Paula Puddy, as well as Greater Sudbury’s two Liberal MPs, Viviane Lapointe (Sudbury) and Marc Serré (Nickel Belt) and the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities.
Per Landry-Altmann’s direction, the city is expected to advertise via social media and their website how the public can submit feedback on the proposed electoral boundary changes.
Those who wish to participate at a public hearing must submit a form to the commission by Sept. 25. A list of public hearings is available by clicking here.
Written submissions can be submitted by email to [email protected], or mail to:
Ms. Paula Puddy
Commission Secretary
Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Ontario
PO Box 37018 Southdale
London, Ontario N6E 3T3
The commission will make public all submissions that it receives in response to the proposed redistribution plan, according to the organization’s website. Submissions will be published on the commission's website and will include the person's name and the date of the submission, though the home address of those making submissions will not be shared.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
