Change coming to the Timmins-James Bay riding?

Our local MPP could be traveling much, much less over the next few years.

The province’s Lieutenant Governor in council is naming a commission to take a look at the provincial electoral boundary for Timmins-James Bay, along with Kenora-Rainy River.

Titled the “Far North Electoral Boundaries Commission,” it will be Chaired by Justice Joyce Pelletier, a judge in Thunder Bay.

In a release, Pelletier states “the Commission will consider, among other statutory requirements, many factors for effective representation, including the density of populations, representation of Indigenous people, community interests, accessibility as well as existing municipal boundaries and geographical features.”

Other members of the commission include:

• Greg Essensa, Ontario’s chief electoral officer
• Michael Pal, assistant professor specializing in electoral and constitutional law, University of Ottawa
• Theresa Hall, Indigenous community representative
• Eric Fisher, Indigenous community representative

It’s said the province is doing this to make steps towards improving representation of the James Bay coastal communities in Queen’s Park.

Yasir Naqvi, the Attorney General, says every person in Ontario should feel their needs and interests are addressed in the Legislature.

“Ontario’s northern communities have unique needs,” he said, “And the independent commission will provide us with recommendations to ensure their voices continue to be heard in the provincial legislature.”

It all stems from an amendment to the Representation Act of 2015 back in December—via the Election Statute Law Amendment Act, 2016—to establish the commission.

If any, the changes will come into effect in time for the 2018 provincial general election…where we could see electoral districts increased to 123 or 124.

It would no doubt impact MPP Gilles Bisson, who admits he has mixed feelings on the subject.

“On one side of me, I say this is great for giving the First Nations people an opportunity to elect their own at the Legislature,” he told Rogers Media Monday morning.

“But I’m going to miss it.  It’s been a really interesting time and I learned a lot of things representing the James Bay but (the change) is the right thing to do.”

Bisson—who flies his own plane to the coast—adds he believes he does a good job, but there’s nothing like having a representative directly from the coastal communities.

The commission will make recommendations about the creation of at least one and as many as two additional ridings in these areas.

Public hearings will be conducted and a final report will be submitted to the Attorney General on August 1st.

From there, the report will be made public and legislation to implement the recommendations will be tabled before October 30th.