For Immediate Release
May 19, 2005

Sterling introduces a Bill to ensure fair representation by creating an independent Electoral Boundaries Commission

Queen’s Park – Lanark-Carleton MPP and critic for Democratic Renewal Norm Sterling today introduced a bill that would, if passed, enshrine in legislation a fair process by which an independent Electoral Boundaries Commission would review and redraw riding boundaries.

In 1962 Premier John Robarts established Ontario’s first independent electoral boundaries commission and told the Legislature the commission was “designed to remove the whole matter from the field of politics.”

“Since that time we have not had our electoral boundaries changed by legislation without the advise of an independent commission,” said Mr. Sterling. “But in Bill 176, currently before the House, the McGuinty government is trying to do just that, something which can easily be perceived as Gerrymandering, or the intentional drawing of electoral boundaries for partisan benefit.”

Mr. Sterling’s bill requires that the commission determine the number of ridings in Ontario based on maintaining 11 ridings in the North. This will ensure strong representation for Northern Ontario not only for the next election but forever more and at the same time ensure fair representation for all Ontarians.

“As a member of the Harris Government I supported using the results of the federal Electoral Boundaries Commission to create provincial ridings that mirrored the federal ridings,” said Mr. Sterling. “But since this government has made the promise to maintain 11 ridings in the North, I believe we must redistribute the ridings in the South to ensure fair representation even though this will likely mean having an additional ten or more MPPs.”

The proposed Electoral Boundaries Commission (Ontario) Act is modeled on the Federal Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act. As such an Electoral Boundary Commission consisting of one judge appointed by Ontario’s Chief Justice and two other individuals entitled to vote in Ontario and appointed by the Speaker of the Ontario Legislature will be struck every 10 years following a census. The proposed Act also calls for the immediate creation of an Electoral Boundaries Commission to redraw the boundaries before the next election to be held on October 4, 2007.

In order to ensure fairness, the commission will be instructed to try to create ridings with relatively equal populations while taking into consideration factors like geography and historical boundaries. As an outside rule, no riding should have a population more than 25% smaller or larger than the average population of all Ontario ridings.

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For more information, please call Lanark-Carleton MPP Norm Sterling at: (416) 314-7900

Backgrounder

The History of Electoral Boundary Re-adjustment in Ontario

1954	An all-party select committee of the Legislature drafted new electoral boundaries
1962	By Order of the House Premier Robarts appointed the first independent Electoral Boundaries Commission which consisted of The Honourable Mr. Justice Edward Anderson Richardson, a justice of the Supreme Court of Ontario; Mr. Kenneth Grant Crawford, a professor of political science and director of the Institute of Local Government at Queen’s University and former deputy minister in the Ministry of Municipal Affairs; and Mr. Roderick Gilmour Lewis, Q.C., Ontario’s Chief Electoral Officer and Clerk of the Legislative Assembly.
1970	A select committee of the Legislature studying election laws recommended that an independent process for establishing electoral boundaries be enshrined in legislation.
1973	By Order of the House an Electoral Boundaries Commission was created with the members of the commission appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
1983	By Order of the House an Electoral Boundaries Commission was created with the members again being appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
1996	The Representation Act, 1996 was passed tying Ontario’s provincial riding boundaries to the federal riding boundaries as established by an electoral Commission under the Federal Electoral Boundary Redistribution Act.
2005	Bill 176, the Electoral Statute Law Amendment Act, was introduced by the McGunity Government. The Bill proposes to adopt the new federal electoral boundaries in the South while maintaining the existing provincial electoral boundaries in the North without providing for any process of review.