If Sault MP Terry Sheehan is running in the next federal election, he may have a lot of extra dumb miles to do to keep his job. Proposed changes to federal electoral boundaries show Sheehan’s Sault Ste. Marie riding expanded to several times its existing size. The renewed riding would have a population of 97,299 souls, up 17,000 from its current 80,371. In addition to Sault Ste. Marie, the new riding will include Bruce Mines, Thessalon, Wawa, most of Huron Shores. Chapleau, Dubreuilville, Hilton, Jocelyn, Johnson, Laird, Macdonald, Meredith and Aberdeen Additional, Plummer Additional, Prince, St. Joseph, Tarbutt and White River, as well as Hilton Beach. The following First Nations reserves are also proposed for inclusion in the Sault Ste. Marie riding:
Chapleau No. 74A Chapleau No. 75 Lake Chapleau Cree Fox Duck Lake No. 76B Garden River No. 14 Gulf of Goulais No 15A Mixed Cap No. 49 Obadjiwan No. 15E Ranking position No. 15D Thessaloniki No 12
Currently, the Sault riding is generally located between the Montreal River to the north and the St. Marys and the North Channel to the south.
The venerable name “Algoma” will disappear from federal electoral maps, with Elliot Lake becoming part of a new zone called the Manitoulin-Nickel Riding. The proposed boundary changes were announced by the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Ontario at 5:07 p.m. of Friday. In a press release, the commission described the border adjustment process as “independent and nonpartisan.” “In the exercise of its mandate under the Electoral Boundaries Adjustment Act and given the allocation of an additional district in Ontario, the commission has found it necessary to propose several new electoral boundaries to correct wide variations in the equality of voters which have occurred throughout the province over the past decade due to population change,” said the Honorable Judge Lynne C. Leitch, chair of the three-judge panel. Eleven public consultations are scheduled for late September and October across the province, but the only ones in Northern Ontario are in Sioux Lookout, Kenora and Timmins. There will also be six mock hearings, including one on Wednesday, October 26, dedicated to Northern Ontario, Central Ontario and Ottawa. Additional information is currently being added to this article.
