Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Colleagues, I asked the clerk to distribute a presentation, which you have in front of you. There are two copies, one in each official language, and you'll notice that there are handwritten tabs, so that's how you can tell.
Let me go through it and deal with each of the questions that have been raised to each of the presenters.
First of all, what am I proposing? Let us go back to the Kingston map, please. I'm proposing two things. One is that the new Lanark—Frontenac riding will have its name changed to Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, as it's going to include a chunk of Kingston. By geography, it will actually include more than half of the city of Kingston, so it seems appropriate to include that name.
Secondly, I'm asking for an additional boundary change. You can take a look at the maps that are up on the overhead. You can see that on the right-hand side is the present boundary of Kingston and the Islands. The yellow line going through there is Highway 401. Under the boundaries proposal put forward by the commission, that area is being moved into the Lanark—Frontenac riding.
I am proposing that an additional area, which I'll use the laser pointer to indicate, also be moved into the Lanark—Frontenac riding. You can see the Cataraqui River there. That's a significant divide. I'm suggesting that everything east of that point be moved.
The demographic consequences of making that change are the following: 11,900 people would be moved, which would have the effect of bringing both of the ridings much closer to the provincial median than they currently are. The exact numbers are on the handout to you.
There's a next question that you always ask: is there a domino effect on the surrounding ridings? The answer is no.
You ask next if we have spoken to our colleagues about these proposed changes. Mr. Hsu and I have been working closely, so closely, in fact, that you'll notice we are using the same format and fonts in our presentations, because we both submitted our presentations to each other ahead of time.
The next question is as follows: is your objection a repeated argument made before the boundaries commission or is it new? The answer is that this is new. I made a different presentation last November to the boundaries commission. The areas to the north and west of Kingston were dramatically different under the initial proposals. I protested that. The commission listened to my proposal.
One of the things I suggested was that in order to solve problems elsewhere in Frontenac County, additional population be obtained from the north of Kingston and the boundary be pushed down to Highway 401. The commission accepted that proposal, but at the time I made the proposal I was very careful to make the following note in my presentation, which you can read for yourself. What I said was—and I'm quoting myself here—“I won't pretend that this arrangement is ideal from the point of view of Kingston's rural north end.” In fact, I had no idea what they would think was best.
Once the boundaries were made public in February, I then contacted the municipal councillor, a man named Jeff Scott, who represents the ward district that covers the entire area north of Highway 401 that is being transferred. I asked, “What do you think?” His response to me is contained in a letter that is at tab B of the presentation. Essentially, he said that people there were enthusiastic about this, but he had some concerns. He said that the best way to respond to the concerns was to add the areas that I'm suggesting, south and east of Highway 401.
I note that you have a really good map now. They've just blown it up and made it a little closer. That's excellent.
What he said was, first of all, that his boundaries in his district are going to be changed. Right now, its southern boundary is Highway 401. After the municipal redistricting, it will take in everything east of Abbey Dawn Road. He said he'd like to have all of his district contained in a single riding and asked if I could make the change to incorporate that.
He also said to contact Brian Reitzel, who is the councillor for Pittsburgh ward. Pittsburgh ward currently is the entire area that I'm asking to have transferred. Following the municipal redistricting, it will be everything west of Abbey Dawn, south of Highway 401, and east of the Cataraqui.
I contacted Brian Reitzel, who told me that he would like to see his ward or his district transferred as well and have it become part of the new riding. His rationale is that Pittsburgh is an historic entity. Before 1998, Pittsburgh was a separate municipality. It was traditionally split between ridings over and over again in order to allow the city of Kingston, which in those days was much smaller, to be in a single riding.
He said that finally they got it right and put all of Pittsburgh into one riding in 2004, after the municipality had actually ceased to exist, and now it would be split up again, and they would not like to see that happen. I want to accommodate that rationale as well. He feels there is a strong community of interest in the entire area east of Highway 401, not merely for historical reasons but for some other interests as well.
Finally, I contacted the mayor of Frontenac Islands and asked if they wanted to be included. The rest of Frontenac County is in the riding I represent, although they are not contiguous with the part of the county, and his letter saying that they would prefer to remain with Kingston and the Islands is also included in the report I've submitted to you at tab C.
All I'm doing, Mr. Chair, in conclusion, is trying to reflect the interests of the local communities as represented to me by their elected representatives.
Thank you.
