A boundary change to Elgin-Middlesex-London riding is far less drastic than first proposed.
The report by the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Ontario was tabled in the House of Commons on Feb. 10, and called for Thames Centre to join Middlesex-London and the rest of EML riding remaining as is.
The new riding of Elgin-St. Thomas-London South is being welcomed by MP Karen Vecchio.
Under the original proposal both Central Elgin and Southwold would have been split into two ridings.
The new electoral roadmap would have seen St. Thomas incorporated into a new riding to be known as London South–St. Thomas.
It would stretch north to Commissioners Road and the Thames River, east to Springwater Road to include Belmont and Mapleton, south to John Wise Line and west to Sunset/Westdel Bourne/Wonderland Road, but would not include Lambeth.
The proposed changes are part of a review of electoral boundaries undertaken every 10 years.
Vecchio tells myFM the process involves lots of re-jigging.
She tells myFM what the next step entails.
At the time of the original boundary adjustment proposal, Vecchio expressed concerns about splitting St. Thomas from Elgin county.
“They (the Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission for Ontario) recognize the City of St. Thomas as a boundary, but they are not recognizing any of the municipalities in Elgin county and just separating them for the reason of population and not about customer service. It’s about population and not about communities and we need to focus on communities.”
Written by Ian McCallum
