The Manitoba Electoral Divisions Boundaries Commission is proposing to add one new electoral division in Winnipeg and to reduce the number in Northern Manitoba to three to reflect population changes in its interim report.
These changes would result in most, but not quite all, electoral divisions in the province being within a 10 per cent variance above or below the target population of 22,427 people per division, a number derived by dividing Manitoba’s 2016 census population of 1,278,365 by 57, the number of electoral divisions in the province.
Thompson would be about 4.5 per cent below the target population despite being adjusted to include Gillam and Nelson House. Flin Flon and The Pas would be slightly over the target population after being combined, with the northern portion of the Flin Flon division being moved into the Keewatinook riding. A new electoral division called Kameesak (which means “big” in Cree) would be formed from the eastern part of The Pas riding and the northern portion of the current Swan River, with the remainder of the Swan River electoral division being combined with The Pas.
“While there is some population growth in Northern Manitoba, that growth is significantly slower than in the south of the province,” said the interim report. “The proposed electoral divisions in the north have well balanced populations, while respecting travel patterns and communities of interest.”
Public hearings will be held on the proposed changes, which also include adjusting the size and boundaries and changing the names of electoral divisions in the southern and western areas of Manitoba. In Churchill, a meeting will be held at 10 a.m. Sept. 11 in the overpass, while at 5 p.m. that day there will be another hearing at the Best Western Hotel in Thompson. On Sept. 12, there will be meetings at noon at the Victoria Inn in Flin Flon and at 5 p.m. at the Sam Waller Museum in The Pas. Following those hearings, the commission will complete a final report with finalized electoral divisions that will be submitted to the lieutenant-governor and the speaker of the Legislative Assembly by Dec. 31 of this year.
The boundaries commission includes Chief Justice Richard Chartier, UCN deans of arts, business and science Harvey Briggs, University of Manitoba president David Barnard, Brandon University interim president Steven Robinson and Manitoba chief electoral officer Shipra Verma.
Divisions south of the 53rd parallel can deviate by 10 per cent above or below the target population and those to the north can deviate by up to 25 per cent. Keewatinook is currently about 20 per cent below the quotient and Thompson about 13 per cent while The Pas is less than two per cent below it. Flin Flon, however, is 30 per cent below the quotient based on 2008 census numbers.
The commission received 46 submissions since January that the members used to inform their decisions about how electoral divisions should be adjusted.
