Northern Ontario to lose one Member of Parliament in House of Commons
NORTHERN ONTARIO—Northern Ontario will lose one federal member of parliament (MP) seat in the House of Commons (from 10 to nine) during the next election under the new federal election boundaries.
“The boundary changes were (officially) approved by Parliament on September 22,” said Carol Hughes, MP for Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing (AMK) last week. “If an election (federal) takes place before April 22 (2024), the riding boundaries will remain under the old riding boundaries. After that date, if an election takes place we will be under the new riding boundaries.”
“Nothing is definite, you never know when an election could be called,” said MP Hughes. She noted that the present (Liberal) government is in its second year. However, “it is a minority government and in a minority, no one has lasted four years before an election took place.”
The new Sudbury East-Manitoulin-Nickel Belt riding means that the Nickel Belt area is losing part of the traditional Sudbury riding but adds Massey, Webbwood, Nairn Centre, Espanola and Manitoulin Island as well as Naughton and Whitefish.
The former Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing riding has been split up into the other renamed ridings.
The new electoral boundary and name for Sault Ste. Marie will also grow. The new boundary of Sault Ste. Marie-Algoma also includes Wawa and Dubreuilville to the North and stretches to the east, covering St. Joseph Island, Thessalon, Blind River, Elliot Lake, Spanish, and stretches to Sudbury, areas that were traditionally part of the Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing riding.
Timmins-James Bay adds Smooth Rock Falls, Kapuskasing, Moonbeam, Hearst and Chapleau and will be rebranded Timmins-James Bay-Mushkegowuk.
