Update: October 3rd, 2022

Thanks to an influx of feedback, the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission has announced that they have extended the written submission period for federal boundary changes until October 29^th, 2022. This means that all residents of Northern Ontario now have additional time to comment on the removal of a riding in the region.

I want to sincerely thank all area Municipal leaders, Chiefs, Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM) the Sudbury East Municipal Association (SEMA), the regional Chambers of Commerce, as well as numerous organizations and individuals for opposing these changes. I strongly encourage residents to continue to make their opinion known.

Eliminating a riding in Northern Ontario is truly a devastating blow to democracy in the north. For those who may not be familiar with the proposed changes, be aware that the Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing riding’s existence is being threatened. To cancel such a riding would significantly expand other riding boundaries such as that of Nickel Belt.

Locally, the new proposed riding will essentially eliminate Nickel Belt as we know it and will be renamed Nickel Belt-Manitoulin. This new riding would take in parts of Greater Sudbury, Elliot Lake, and Manitoulin Island. These changes impact every riding from east to west. Ridings will be much larger, and the opportunity to access your MP for information related to federal agencies will be drastically reduced.

In fact, if this redistribution happens, the City of Ottawa, which is 300 times smaller in landmass than Northern Ontario, will have more seats and more voices in the House of Commons than our region.

The proposal comes despite a growing population in Northern Ontario and new programs being implemented that will further promote growth in the region.

Just last month, the Honorable Sean Fraser announced that the Government of Canada would be extending the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot Program (RNIP) period with improvements to support Community partners, employers and candidates.

The proposed redistribution completely redraws the map of ridings spread out across our region without sufficient consultation of local communities, elected officials, stakeholders, community groups or the consent of the 110 First Nations communities that call Northern Ontario their territory.  How are constituents expected to access their MP in such a vast territory? Public transportation is not accessible to connect rural Northern Ontario Communities.   

The Provincial Boundary Commission of Ontario acknowledged in 2017 that Northern Ontario was under-represented. Rather than remove seats, the Commission recommended adding two more seats to raise the total number to 13 representatives.

Nickel Belt has the largest French-speaking population in Northern Ontario and 3rd in the entire province, many of which are Seniors. This proposal will further isolate the rural, francophone and Indigenous communities. All residents deserve adequate representation – this will only result in a lack of participation, commitment and trust in the governing body called to act on their behalf and to provide them with the much-needed/essential services we help to provide.

I urge members of the public to send a written submission on this pressing issue to the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Ontario by October 29^th.

Please visit https://redecoupage-redistribution-2022.ca/com/on/phrg/index_e.aspx to make a difference in these discussions.  To learn more about the changes, visit marcserre.ca.

August 29th, 2022

As many in the community are already aware, the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Ontario is proposing drastic changes to Northern Ontario’s electoral districts. The proposal would consolidate 10 electoral districts into nine and expand the borders of the remaining ridings.

Over the past week, I’ve heard from countless constituents and community stakeholders who have shared their concerns about the proposed changes. I too am gravely concerned that this will mean less effective representation in the House of Commons for years to come.

It’s particularly disappointing that the commission divided the rural francophone municipalities of Nickel Belt into the Nipissing and Sudbury ridings.

The changes would see former areas of the Nickel Belt riding (Valley East, Azilda, Chelmsford, Dowling, Onaping Falls, Levac) merge with Elliot Lake, Espanola, Blind River and Manitoulin Island to form a new Manitoulin-Nickel Belt Riding. The communities of Coniston, Garson and Falconbridge would also switch to the Sudbury riding.

Portions of West Nipissing, St Charles and Markstay-Warren would be transferred to the Nipissing riding, with French River and Killarney remaining in Nickel Belt.  

While it is true that Northern Ontario has experienced slower population growth than its southern counterpart, the north is the home to several unique communities and the recent 2021 data shows an increase in population.

This includes a culturally rich Francophone population, and over 106 first nations communities, which is a significant chunk of proportion of the 636 First Nations across Canada.

In fact, had the commission rigidly followed the 113,000-population quota, Northern Ontario would have lost an additional representative in the House of Commons. The proposed 9 Federal ridings pale in comparison to Northern Ontario having 12 ridings provincially.

The consequences of having less representation in the north are very real. There will be less federal funding distributed to Northern Ontario ridings through programs such as Canada Summer Jobs, which benefit both local businesses and non-profit organizations, constituency offices will be more difficult to access, and communities will be divided.

These proposed changes are not final. When drastic changes were proposed in 2012, community members effectively voiced their concerns to the commission, and they listened.

However, we must question why the commission has reduced in person public hearings so dramatically. For those living in Greater Sudbury-Nickel Belt, the closest in person consultation would be in Timmins. The accessibility of these hearings have been a particular concern for constituents in the Nickel Belt riding.

The commission has set September 25^th, 2022 as the deadline to either make a written comment and to register to appear in person virtually at a public hearing.

I highly encourage community members in the north to speak up about these drastic changes being made to our federal electoral landscape.

Rural Northern Ontario should not lose a voice – your voice matters.

Feedback can be sent to the commission by going here: https://redecoupage-redistribution-2022.ca/com/on/phrg/index_e.aspx. Emails can also be sent to [email protected].