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Northern Chambers joins fight to save riding

The members of the Northern Ontario Chamber of Commerce are the latest voices to add their concerns about eliminating a Northern Ontario riding.

The member chambers are asking Elections Canada to reject a proposal that would see the number of MPs in the North go from 10 to nine and maintain the Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing riding.

The Federal Electoral Boundaries of Ontario is recommending the riding be eliminated and be divided between the ridings of Sault Ste. Marie and Nickel Belt due to a loss in population over the last ten years.

The chambers have sent a joint letter to Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault pointing out the North is also under-represented, and that the North cannot lose another voice in Parliament.

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Other organizations across Northern Ontario have also spoken out against the proposal including the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities.

Meanwhile, Elections Canada has responded to our story with the following letter: Good morning Rosalind and My Espanola Now team,

I am reaching out on behalf of Elections Canada’s media relations team with a point of clarification regarding My Espanola Now’s article: Northern Chambers joins fight to save riding
I know the piece is simply pointing to the fact that various chambers of commerce have penned a letter to the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada regarding the new electoral boundaries map proposed by the independent Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Ontario, but I wanted to clarify for the benefit of your readers that Elections Canada has no say in how the boundaries are drawn.

Final decisions as to where the federal boundaries will lie are made exclusively by the independent commissions set up in each province.  For Ontario, therefore, those decisions lie with the Ontario commission.  It is also the Commission’s role, and not Elections Canada’s to consider the input received from Canadians and members of the House of Commons when determining the boundaries.

Again, I know you were simply reporting on the letter sent by the Chambers, but I hoped you might consider adding something to the article to make this clear to your readers so that they have clarity about where to send any feedback they may have.

More information on the process and the independent commissions can be found here: About the commissions – Federal Electoral Districts Redistribution (redecoupage-redistribution-2022.ca).

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