More of them: Premier plans to make room for more politicians in the legislature.

By Pepper Parr

July 6th, 2015

BURLINGTON, ON

If you like the idea of running for public office and ending up with a decent pension there is an opportunity for someone in Burlington to join Eleanor McMahon at Queen’s Park.

The government of Ontario decided some time ago that the boundaries for the constituencies in Ontario would be the same as those of the federal government.

The federal government added a new riding for Burlington which means that in the fullness of time there will be a new riding for Burlington.
And because it is a new seat the candidates will not have to run against an incumbent – once those people get into office they never seem to know that it is time to leave; it becomes very difficult to vote them out due to their high name recognition.

So – if a career as an elected official interests you – watch how things play out in the new Oakville North Burlington riding, then join the political party you think can take the seat provincially and you might be on your way to getting your picture in the paper regularly and maybe even making a difference for the community.

Expect to see another office like this open at some point in the not too distant future – it will cater to the people on the east side of the city and some in Oakville.

Don’t worry too much about your political convictions – they don’t matter all that much these days; promises are made that everyone knows are never going to be kept.

The provincial government introduced Election Reform legislation to Ensure Fair Representation which will increase the number of Ontario ridings to 122

Ontario is proposing changes to the provincial election system that would ensure Ontarians are represented fairly in the legislature.

Premier will follow the practice of having the same constituency boundaries as federal ridings – which will mean one more for Burlington.

Premier Kathleen Wynne announced that the government will introduce an election reform bill. If passed, the Electoral Boundaries Act, 2015 would increase the number of provincial ridings in southern Ontario from 96 to 111 for the election scheduled in 2018. This would align with the new federal boundaries, and would better reflect population shifts and increases. Most new ridings would be in areas that have seen substantial population growth, such as Toronto, Peel, York, Durham and Ottawa.

The 11 ridings in northern Ontario would stay the same to ensure that northern communities continue to have effective representation in the legislature.
Adjusting Ontario’s electoral boundaries was recommended by the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO). The government is also committed to addressing other recommendations from the CEO, and will be moving ahead with additional items this fall, including:

• Moving the fixed election date from fall to spring to help avoid overlap with federal and municipal elections;

• Engaging more young people with the voting process through provisional registration for 16- and 17-year-olds. The minimum voting age would remain 18;

• Strengthening rules on election-related third-party advertising.

Enhancing the fairness and integrity of the election system is part of the government’s plan to build a fairer and more inclusive Ontario.

Wonderful!