A federal commission reviewing the electoral ridings in Ontario released its findings Friday and among its recommendations was a re-vamping of the Kenora-Rainy River riding.
The commission has proposed that all of Rainy River District be removed from the Kenora riding, along a line generally following the 49th parallel to the north, and adding it to the current riding of Thunder Bay-Atikokan.
The new riding—renamed Thunder Bay-Rainy River—would stretch from Rainy River and the Manitoba border in the west to the boundary within the city limits of Thunder Bay in the east.
The southern boundary would remain the Canada-U.S. border and the northern boundary roughly would follow the 49th parallel east of Atikokan before jutting north to include Sturgeon Lake and east again to the 90 longitudinal.
“There has been a historical tendency to make rural ridings larger, not smaller,” a shocked Robert Nault, MP for Kenora-Rainy River, said in a press release issued Friday.
“I had anticipated the addition of Atikokan to Kenora-Rainy River, not the removal of the entire Rainy River District,” he added.
The report was tabled in the House of Commons on March 26 by the speaker and referred to the standing committee on Procedure and House Affairs to give MPs an opportunity to comment on changes to the federal electoral boundaries.
“I can appreciate that constituents in the Rainy River District may be concerned about the sudden change in direction that the Electoral Boundaries Commission has proposed,” Nault noted in the release.
“I haven’t had an opportunity to consider what these changes may hold for my constituents, particularly those in the Rainy River District.”
The Electoral Boundaries Commission was considering many approaches to adjusting the riding boundaries in Northern Ontario to help bring the electoral quotient of each riding—number of voters—closer to the provincial quotient.
One suggestion was to reduce the number of ridings in the north from 11 to 10 (by a strict rep by pop approach, the north would only get eight).
But this suggestion met stiff opposition with the argument that Northern Ontario ridings are more in line with electoral districts in lower populated Prairie provinces than larger—and often more urban—southern Ontario ones.
The commission finally came to the conclusion that no electoral ridings would be eliminated and that no district warrants deviation from the allowable variance from the provincial quotient—being 25 percent below—except one electoral district: Kenora-Rainy River riding.
The provincial quotient provides for a riding size of roughly 107,000 voters.
Before the adjustment, the riding was 26.83 percent below the quotient. And after the removal of Rainy River District, the new Kenora riding will be 43.73 percent below the quotient (or 60,572).
The new electoral riding of Thunder Bay-Rainy River would have a population of 85,775 and be roughly 20 percent below the provincial quotient.
Though it isn’t “written in stone,” provincial ridings have a distinct possibility of mirroring the proposed federal boundaries.
“The first proposition, about eight months ago, was absurd,” said NDP leader Howard Hampton, the MPP for the Kenora-Rainy River riding provincially.
“This one is even more absurd.”
He said that the commission was made up of “three people from urban southern Ontario who have no knowledge of the geography and transportation realities of Northwestern Ontario.”
“Our economic base and transportation challenges are far different from southern Ontario,” he argued.
Public consultations were held in Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, and Sudbury, said Hampton, who attended the one in Thunder Bay.
“It is clear that the commission didn’t listen to anything the 50-60 people there recommended,” he said, adding the recommendation was to leave things as they are.
“They should leave the boundaries alone,” he stressed. “We are a distinct location. I will be opposing this proposition.”
MPs and the general public, through their MP, have 30 days to voice their concerns.
“The clock is already ticking on the appeal period,” Nault said in the release. “If people have concerns, we need to hear from them immediately.”
Though people in Rainy River District have concerns regarding the strength of their political voice once the larger urban centre of Thunder Bay is added to the riding, the current MP for Thunder Bay-Atikokan has a different view.
“My first reaction? I was surprised,” said Stan Dromisky. “Nobody talked about the model that came out. What shocked me was they extended my riding to the Manitoba border.”
But Dromisky, who is set to retire prior to the next election, sees the shift of boundaries as a refreshing change. He believes the change will allow one MP to deal with all the issues surrounding the Canada-U.S. border easier.
“[The MP] can deal with the border along the entire riding,” he said. “Not just in piecemeal fashion. It will be harmonized.”
He also suggested transportation concerns for the MP would be moot since “an MP can fly to Fort Frances and rent a car and make it to all the [west end of] the riding in a day.”
“The model here is it’s more convenient,” he added.
Dromisky explained the Kenora-Rainy River riding was so huge it was hard to travel to see everyone—a reality that doesn’t change much, though, with the removal of Rainy River District.
“Having campaigned in this riding [provincially], this riding is huge,” said PC candidate Cathe Hoszowski. “It’s the size of France.
“I have always questioned how people can be represented well,” she noted, adding that she believes more ridings need to be created in the north despite the lack of population to support them.
She did raise the issue on the minds of most residents of Rainy River District regarding the strength of their voice in the new proposed riding.
“Having a large urban centre in a riding with a bunch of smaller rural communities will skew the focus to Thunder Bay, especially with an MPP [or MP] from Thunder Bay,” she warned.
Dromisky argued that no matter where the MP is from, and he thinks it will be one of the three candidates running out of Thunder Bay at present, the challenge will be for the MP to familiarize him or herself with the issues in the Rainy River Valley.
“All I know, whoever becomes the MP will have to be well-organized to deal with the Rainy River Valley,” he said. “It will be a lot of work.”
Dromisky did concede “the democratic process will be weakened by [the proposed] model, but argued the responsibility to see that the district’s issues be heard doesn’t lie only with the MP.”
He suggested constituents must make an effort to be sure their voices are heard.
“I have no sympathy if they allow [their voice] to be lost,” he said. “No matter who gets in, [constituents] have to be vigilant. They’ve got to be vocal and have to be active.”
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
