However, Oxford will soon be 1 voice in 122 instead of 1 in 107
By Mark Schadenberg
Just as the Governor-General was winding up the Throne Speech on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, I was opening a link to a Province of Ontario politics story on The Toronto Star website which made it official that in the next election the winning party will require more seats for a majority government.
This is not new news, but is oddly making press in the province when federal news should be grabbing all the headlines.
Why the change?
Ontario wants to align itself closer to the roster of ridings on the national stage.
Kathleen Wynne
The legislature in Ontario is expanding to 122 seats from 107, so a tie could more likely be possible, but with 107 a tie was also possible with an odd number of parties (Example: 40 seats, 40, 27)It would seem the main reason to shift the structure is to even up the jurisdictions / seats in Ontario to be similar to the federal geography. In Oxford County, our boundaries for both elections has been equal, so no change in our area, but we do become 1 in 122 instead of 1 in 107.
Log Jam of Ridings in Toronto region
I'm not including any politically slanted comments here about which party to vote for or what my thoughts on the speech by Governor General David Johnston, but the increase number of seats is a terrific idea as population grows it's more difficult to have 1 member for approximately 100,000 population. The flip of that coin would be with intensification of demographics in the Greater Toronto Area, it will me more members representing a smaller region at Queen's Park versus some vast northern Ontario riding with fewer residences per square kilometre. According to a National Post story, it wasn't just the Metro Toronto area which picked up more elected officials in time for the 2015 Federal vote.
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The Canadian Press story from June 3, 2015:
The federal Electoral Boundaries Commission made changes to the boundaries of many ridings and created 15 new electoral districts in Toronto, but also Kitchener, Hamilton, Halton, Brampton, Mississauga, Simcoe, York, Ottawa, Belleville and Durham.
Ontario’s riding districts have closely matched federal ridings since 1999 when the previous Tory government reduced the number of MPPs from 130 to 103, but Ontario added one additional northern riding in 2005.
The increase in the number of Ontario MPPs will be part of a package of electoral reforms Wynne is expected to announce.
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Both the Premier (Kathleen Wynne) and her Liberal Party, along with the Conservatives led by Patric Brown are in favour of this number shuffling
As you can read in the new Toronto Star story from today, the NDP are concerned about one riding in the Sudbury area based on its overall size and the fact it does not include the Wahnapitae First Nation.
There's lots of good reading if you follow how Parliament's legislature is created.
I remember high school history when terms like 'representation by population' were uttered by politicians at all levels in every era. Even in municipal government, it's interesting to debate whether or not Woodstock should have more than 3 seats at the 10-seat county council, which includes 8 mayors (Woodstock, Tillsonburg, Ingersoll, Zorra, East Zorra-Tavistock, Southwest Oxford, Norwich and Blandford-Blenheim) and two additional voted delegates from Woodstock.
Patrick Brown
Oxford MPP Ernie Hardeman
Constituency Office Info
LINKS:http://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2015/12/04/queens-park-adds-15-more-mpps.html
www.ontario.ca
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/ontario-will-match-most-federal-riding-changes-gets-15-new-electoral-districts
http://www.tbnewswatch.com/News/377794/Northern_Ontarios_provincial_electoral_boundaries_wont_change
Mark Schadenberg, sales representative
Royal LePage Triland Realty Brokerage
Dial: 519 537-1553
Email: mschadenberg@rogers.com
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