Chatham-Kent council wants the community to be heard in upcoming federal riding boundary consultations.
At their meeting held Monday night, Chatham-Kent council voted in favour of holding a forum to have Chatham-Kent residents provide their thoughts on proposed federal riding boundary changes.
Wallaceburg councillor Aaron Hall brought forward a successful motion asking to have municipal staff take part in an upcoming virtual hearing, as well as have staff create a feedback page on the municipality’s Let’s Talk online community engagement page, so the information gathered can be sent to the commission.
Fellow Ward Five councillor Carmen McGregor said there are concerns with having Chatham-Kent split into three ridings, noting it will be difficult dealing with three different MPs on different projects and funding opportunities.
“I think it’s very important that we have the opportunity to talk about this, especially when our riding is going to be further divided,” McGregor said.
The current proposal from the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission would see Chatham-Kent split into parts of three separate federal ridings, as the commission is looking at redrawing the federal ridings in Ontario. Currently, Chatham-Kent is part of two federal ridings—Chatham-Kent-Leamington, and Lambton-Kent-Middlesex. If the changes go ahead, Lambton-Kent-Middlesex would be eliminated with the north part of Chatham-Kent joining the Sarnia-Lambton riding and the east part of the municipality joining the newly formed Elgin-Middlesex-Thames riding. The western portion would be lumped into a Chatham-Kent-Leamington-Kingsville riding.
The Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Ontario is holding 17 public hearings between September 26 and October 29 to allow for public input.
The earliest the new boundary map could be approved is in April of 2024, before coming into effect on the subsequent dissolution of Parliament.
For more information about the proposed changes to Ontario’s federal ridings, click here.