By Stephanie Lewis
Large population discrepancies and disproportionate representation on city council is forcing ward boundary changes in Ottawa.
For example, Kanata Ward, with 60, 240 people, has a population more than four times the size of Rideau Ward and yet both wards are represented by the same number of people on city council — one.
“It’s simply not fair for one community to have three to four times the voting power of another community,” says Alex Cullen, the councillor for Bay ward which has a population of 45,000 people.
The city has recognized the imbalance and, in an attempt to achieve a fairer representation for all the people of Ottawa, has started a project to change the ward boundaries.
However, changing the boundaries is no easy process.
Many citizens voiced concerns in several major areas during the public consultation period, says Derek Thompson, a spokesperson for the Ottawa Elections Office.
One such concern was the sense of divided communities that might result from the changes.
“The current ward boundaries have some communities, like Carlsbad Springs, split between wards,” says Thompson.
“I often hear ‘My neighbour across the street has different services from me… that doesn’t make sense.’ ”
Perhaps the largest area of concern, was the possible effects that ward boundary changes could have on rural communities.
“The general feeling is that the rural voice will be lost,” says Osgoode Ward Coun. Doug Thompson.
People in rural communities have specific interests that may not apply to urban area, like agricultural noise levels, the right to farm and the discharge of firearms.
“You have to have lived the farming life in order to understand it,” says Coun. Thompson, who was raised on a farm.
He says he has one big fear about the boundary changes.
“We could get a representative with no (rural) experience at all.”
People in rural communities are not the only ones concerned.
“There’s been an equally important concern from urban wards of people wanting fairer representation,” says Pierre de Blois, a member of the Citizen’s Task Force in charge of the boundary review.
“The trick is going to be to achieve that balance.”
According to Mary-Jo Wollam, project director for the ward boundaries review, all public comments have been heard and will be taken into account when the task force sits down and determines how to proceed.
But people’s concerns will not be the final deciding factor, says de Blois.
“It’s not a question of pleasing everyone, it a question of doing what’s best for the city.”
He believes that people are making a big deal over nothing.
“I don’t think it’s going to be as much of a conflict as people think.”
Over the next few weeks, the task force is going to start analyzing the information they’ve gathered.
“We’re hoping to have some recommendations by late May, early June,” says de Blois. While no decisions have been made, he doesn’t predict any large changes to Somerset Ward.
“At a first glance, I wouldn’t think that the inner-city wards will be greatly affected. The issues are more centered around the suburban rapid growth areas.”
Somerset Ward Coun. Elisabeth Arnold agrees with de Blois’ prediction. “I don’t think that we’ll see any significant changes in the boundaries of Somerset Ward,” says Arnold.
“But I do think that having a better distribution of workload (for councillors) and representation by population across the whole new city is an advantage to everyone, including Centretown residents.”