July 10, 2017 Via Electronic Email: [email protected] Phillip Vinet
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July 10, 2017 Via Electronic Email: [email protected] Phillip Vinet, Mayor 2 Fifth Street P.O. Box1000 Balmertown, Ontario P0V 1C0 Greetings Mayor Vinet: RE: Far North Electoral Boundaries Commission – Release of Preliminary Report Thank you for hosting the Far North Electoral Boundaries Commission’s public information session. We are pleased to release the Preliminary Report including the Commission’s recommendations. For your reference, an electronic copy of the report has been attached to this letter. Hard copies of the Preliminary Report will follow by regular mail. The Far North Electoral Boundaries Commission will be accepting submissions on the Preliminary Report and recommendations in preparation of our final report and final recommendations due to the Honourable Minister Yasir Naqvi on August 1, 2017. Given the quickly approaching deadline of August 1, 2017 the Commission strongly encourages you to submit written submissions via email to [email protected] as soon as possible. We will be receiving written submissions until 5 p.m. on July 13 th , 2017. We look forward to hearing from you and to the release of the Commission’s final report. Respectfully, The Honourable Joyce L. Pelletier Judge, Ontario Court of Justice Chair, Far North Electoral Boundaries Commission fnebc-cdcegn.ca 101-981 Balmoral Street 1-844-853-0958 Thunder Bay, Ontario P7B 0A6 Table of Contents 1. Executive Summary .................................................................................................. 5 2. Signatures of Commissioners ................................................................................... 9 3. History of PEDs in Ontario ...................................................................................... 11 a. Pre-1995 .......................................................................................................................11 b. Fewer Politicians Act, 1996: Alignment with Federal Ridings .........................................11 c. Representation Act, 2005: Departure from Federal Ridings for Northern Ontario ..........12 d. Representation Act, 2015: Preserving at least Eleven Northern Ontario PEDs ..............12 4. Mandate of FNEBC ................................................................................................. 14 a. Statutory Composition ...................................................................................................14 b. Support Staff .................................................................................................................15 c. Statutory Mandate .........................................................................................................15 d. Public Information Meetings of the FNEBC ....................................................................16 e. Terms of Reference of the Chair....................................................................................17 f. Reconciliation ................................................................................................................17 g. Northern Representation ...............................................................................................19 h. Complete Statutory Mandate of the FNEBC (s. 4 of the Representation Act, 2015) ......19 5. Descriptions of Kenora—Rainy River and Timmins—James Bay ........................... 21 a. Sources of Demographic Information ............................................................................21 b. Total Populations ...........................................................................................................21 c. Treaties and First Nations Self-Governance ..................................................................23 d. The Métis Population .....................................................................................................23 e. Indigenous Languages ..................................................................................................24 f. Francophone Population ...............................................................................................25 g. Geography ....................................................................................................................27 h. Transportation ...............................................................................................................28 i. Far North ...............................................................................................................28 ii. Near North .............................................................................................................29 6. Legal Context: Constitution and Statute.................................................................. 31 a. Section 3 of the Charter .................................................................................................31 b. Representation by Population and Facilitating Minority Representation: A Balancing Act for the FNEBC ....................................................................................................................32 7. Public Information Meetings .................................................................................... 36 a. Description of Process ...................................................................................................36 Far North Electoral Boundaries Commission | Preliminary Report 2 b. Terminology...................................................................................................................38 c. Public Information Meetings ..........................................................................................38 d. Meetings with GCT3 and NAN .......................................................................................38 e. Meetings with MPPs ......................................................................................................39 f. Submissions ..................................................................................................................39 g. Summary of Public Information Meetings ......................................................................39 8. Recommendations .................................................................................................. 41 a. Recommendation for Two Additional PEDs ...................................................................41 b. Boundaries ....................................................................................................................45 c. Variance from Electoral Quotient ...................................................................................45 d. Names ...........................................................................................................................46 e. Compliance with the Charter .........................................................................................47 9. Proposed Legal Descriptions of New PEDs ............................................................ 51 10. Further Considerations ........................................................................................... 53 Bibliography .................................................................................................................. 58 APPENDIX A: Map Illustrating Preliminary Recommendations ..................................... 62 Appendix B: List of Far North Electoral Boundaries Commission (FNEBC) Staff .......... 63 Appendix C: s. 4 of the Representation Act, 2015 ......................................................... 65 Far North Electoral Boundaries Commission | Preliminary Report 3 Executive Summary Executive Summary Far North Electoral Boundaries Commission | Preliminary Report 4 Executive Summary 1. Executive Summary The Far North Electoral Boundaries Commission (“FNEBC”) has been established pursuant to provincial legislation to make recommendations to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario regarding the creation of at least one, and no more than two, new provincial electoral districts (“PEDs”) from the geography of the current PEDs of Kenora—Rainy River and Timmins—James Bay. The FNEBC is also to make recommendations regarding the boundaries and names of these PEDs. The FNEBC is releasing this “Preliminary Report” containing its preliminary recommendations as required by s. 4(9) of the Representation Act, 2015. Pursuant to its mandate, the FNEBC conducted public information meetings with communities throughout these geographically vast PEDs in May and June of 2017. The FNEBC also met with the Indigenous political leadership of Grand Council Treaty 3 (“GCT3”) and the Nishnawbe Aski Nation (“NAN”) in the Treaty 9 area during their Spring Assemblies in Mitaanjigamiing First Nation and Timmins, respectively. In addition to participating in the Spring Assemblies, the FNEBC also operated an information booth during the Chiefs of Ontario Summer Assembly in Lac Seul First Nation. The FNEBC also met with Members of Provincial Parliament (“MPPs”) from the region. The FNEBC has given close attention to all of the views expressed and explains how it dealt with them in this Preliminary Report. The Ontario Legislature established the FNEBC pursuant to the Election Statute Law Amendment Act, 2016, which amended the Representation Act, 2015. Consistent with boundary commission best practices, the FNEBC is a non- partisan entity, established at arms-length from government, and is making its recommendations independently.1 Indicative of the FNEBC’s non-partisanship and independence, the Ontario government is statutorily obliged to