The Municipality of Chatham-Kent is moving into a single riding under a new plan issued by the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Ontario.
In a report released on Friday, February 10, 2023, the Commission switched gears from their original proposal announced in the fall of 2022.
“The Municipality of Chatham-Kent, a single tier municipality, expressed concern that it was being split from two into three districts,” the Commission reports states.
“In this final plan, the Commission has reconfigured the boundaries so that the Municipality of Chatham-Kent is within one district. Leamington and Pelee Island have also been placed in this district, as they were in the existing boundaries. This reinforces effective representation of these communities. The name of this district has been returned to the existing name of Chatham-Kent-Leamington.”
The Commission says the district of Sarnia-Lambton-Bkejwanong “has received significant change” as well.
“It has been re-drawn to match Lambton County, as was suggested in several submissions,” the Commission said in its report.
“This is generally consistent with the Commission’s approach in rural Ontario to maintain the cohesiveness of upper tier municipalities and to preserve effective representation. The Commission also received multiple submissions about the negative impact on effective representation with the proposed division of the Township of Dawn-Euphemia. This included a submission from the municipality itself. Under the final boundaries, Dawn-Euphemia has been maintained wholly within Sarnia-Lambton-Bkejwanong.”
The Commission added: “Walpole Island First Nation and Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point First Nation remain together in this new district, along with Aamjiwnaang First Nation.”
The Commission stated in its report that the deviations from the quota in this geographic piece are especially high.
“The Commission has concluded that geographic considerations and the need for effective representation warrants these deviations,” the report says.
“The relatively fewer choices for boundary options on a peninsula, combined with the desire to keep lower-tier and upper-tier municipalities together, makes this plan reasonable. However, this will need to be re-assessed in the future, as the population in this geographic piece shifts.”
Following the release of the original proposal in the fall, Wallaceburg Councillor Aaron Hall entered a successful motion at the Monday, September 12, 2022 Chatham-Kent Council meeting, which ensured the Municipality took part in the consultation process.
“I think it’s a worthwhile process to be engaged with,” Hall said during the meeting.
“We should be at the table for it and make sure our collective voices are heard.”
Council approved waiving the notice period for Hall’s motion, due to timing.
The directions to Chatham-Kent administration in the motion, included:
– Making a representation at the September 27, 2022 virtual hearing hosted by the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Ontario.
– Preparing a page on Let’s Talk Chatham-Kent to gather feedback from the community on the recommendations.
– Preparing an information report and update to Council before the end of 2022, following the Let’s Talk engagement process.
– Send written comments to the Commission, following the Let’s Talk engagement process and subsequent update to Council.
In the original proposal, Chatham-Kent was set to be split into three different ridings, with Wallaceburg, Dresden and Walpole Island included in the proposed Sarnia-Lambton-Bkejwanong riding.
Others parts of Chatham-Kent would be included in the proposed Chatham-Kent-Leamington-Kingsville riding and other parts in the proposed Elgin-Middlesex-Thames riding.
More details about the original plan can be found, here.
The report by the Commission was tabled in the House of Commons on Friday.
The report, which was sent to the Speaker of the House through the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada, will be reviewed by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, the Commission said in a media release.
The Commission was tasked with proposing new boundaries that, as best as possible, maintain population equality while taking into consideration social and geographic factors, including respect for communities of interest or identity and historical patterns of previous boundaries, the Commission said.
These criteria, along with the submissions and the public feedback gathered at public hearings held between September 26 and November 8, 2022, all factored into the report tabled in the House on Friday, the Commission said.
“The time and effort committed by the public to this important democratic process was remarkable and very much valued by the Commission,” said the Honourable Justice Lynne C. Leitch, Chair of the three-member Commission, in a media release.
“We are satisfied that we have balanced our statutory obligations with the views of the people of Ontario, striving for the goal of effective representation.”
For more information on the next steps in the redistribution process, visit www.redistribution2022.ca.
The Commission says changes to the electoral boundaries will not come into effect until April 1, 2024, at the earliest.
