Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Ontario Begins the Process of Readjusting Boundaries

LONDON, ON, Feb. 1, 2022 /CNW/ - The Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Ontario begins its review of the province's federal electoral districts, following the 2021 decennial census. The three-person commission is headed by the Honourable Justice Lynne C. Leitch with commissioners Karen Bird and Peter John Loewen.

The Ontario Commission will use the 2021 Census population counts made available by the Chief Statistician of Canada on February 9, 2022, to review the boundaries of Ontario's 122 federal electoral districts.

While population growth and shifts since the last decennial census in 2011 will be taken into account, readjusting Ontario's federal electoral boundaries is not simply a mathematical exercise whereby each district is assigned roughly the same number of people. The process is instead a balancing act that must consider a district's communities of interest or identity along with its history and geographic size.

The Ontario Commission will publish its proposal on the new electoral map in a few months. It will also hold virtual and, if possible, in-person public hearings to hear from those who wish to express their views. Advance notice of these hearings will be published in local media, on the redistribution website and on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

To inform its review of Ontario's electoral districts, the Commission invites the public to send comments and suggestions by mail or email no later than Tuesday, March 1, 2022.

 "Consulting the public before we draft our proposal is not mandatory, according to the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act, but we consider advanced consultations to be crucial for making informed decisions when we start to redraw the electoral map of Ontario. This undertaking is a very important democratic exercise, and public input is key to a transparent, impartial and rigorous process." –The Honourable Justice Lynne C. Leitch, Chair of the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Ontario

The Commission thanks everyone in advance for their interest in its work. To learn more about the current redistribution process, visit the redistribution website or its accounts on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

To submit your suggestions:

For general enquiries, contact the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Ontario by mail, email or by phone at 1-855-747-7224 (toll-free).

Media enquiries:

[email protected]

SOURCE The Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Ontario