2015 brings big changes on the local political front. With 30
new electoral districts (ridings) being added across the country to elect 30
more Members of Parliament, 15 of them in Ontario, boundaries which have not
changed for over a decade will be moving.
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In our area, the changes are significant. The Barrie riding,
whose borders were drawn to match those of the City of Barrie, is being split
across the middle (Tiffin St and Kempenfelt Bay) with each half being augmented
with rural areas from the surrounding ridings. As a result, Springwater
Township is being moved from the Simcoe—Grey district, and Oro-Medonte from
Simcoe North, to create the new Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte (BSOM) electoral
district, which has no incumbent MP. The south half of Barrie is joining with
the Town of Innisfil, which has been moved out of the York—Simcoe district, to
become Barrie—Innisfil (BI). Conservative MP Patrick Brown is the de facto
incumbent for BI, although if he wins the provincial PC leadership race, he’ll
have to step down federally, leaving that seat also open. Two open ridings in
what has been a swing-riding area would draw much national media attention and will
certainly make for some exciting, hard-fought races.
You will have already seen some reportage about nomination
contests in the new ridings, although the Green Party was usually omitted from the
coverage of which parties have or have not had nominations or formed new riding
organizations. Luckily, I can correct that oversight!
For Greens, this boundary change is somewhat traumatic for both
the Barrie and Simcoe North riding organizations. The Barrie Greens I helped
build over the past 10 years have basically been cleaved in half, and what was
an entirely urban riding will now be two ridings, each combining urban and
rural communities, with divergent needs and feelings. This means adapting to varying
campaign styles and even unmatched sign by-laws, which are quite different
between Barrie and Simcoe County.
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But this is also potentially traumatic for Greens in Simcoe
North. Although Oro-Medonte represents only about 10% of the area and
population of the (former) Simcoe North riding, many of the current or former
Green Party riding executives and active volunteers happen to live there. In
effect, much of the Simcoe North Green Party organization is finding themselves
uprooted and dropped into a new riding, even though their address hasn’t
changed. Luckily, we are pulling together to address this challenge and together
form an even stronger Green presence in the region’s 5 ridings.
As part of this, Green Party members from across the region
are meeting on Sunday, February 8, to nominate candidates for BSOM and BI and
new riding executives to support the campaign. Starting at 2 pm at O’Hara’s Public House at 420 Leacock Drive in Barrie, the event is open to members of
the public, but voting will be limited to party members who live within the new
BSOM or BI boundaries and have enrolled by January 25th. Several
individuals have already stepped up to be serve as candidate or on the
executive, but the party is always open to new applicants, who should contact info@BarrieGreens.ca or call 705-730-7591 to indicate their interest and get more
information.
Published as my Root Issues column in the Barrie Examiner
Erich Jacoby-Hawkins is a director of
Living Green and the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation.
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