8 Friday, August 26, 2022brooklintowncrier.com (From Proposal of the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for the Province of Ontario - Published pursuant to the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act) Redistribution of federal electoral boundaries is governed by the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act, which sets out the Commission's mandate and rules to be applied in redrawing boundaries. The legislation mandates that each electoral district shall, as close as reasonably possible, correspond to the Provincial Electoral Quota ("the Quota"). The Quota is the total population divided by the number of districts. In addition, the Commission is obliged to also consider communities of interest or communities of identity in, and the historical pattern of, electoral districts, and a manageable geographic size for districts in sparsely populated, rural or northern regions of the province. New boundaries Pursuant to this mandate, the Commission proposes many new electoral boundaries for Ontario. These proposed boundary changes are necessary due to the allocation of one additional district (bringing the total number of districts in the province to 122); and to correct wide variations in voter equality that have emerged across the province over the past decade due to population changes. The assignment of seats to Ontario The Chief Electoral Officer calculates the number of seats assigned to each province in accordance with the representation formula in the Constitution Act, 1867 (see redistribution2022.ca). Pursuant to that formula, Ontario has been allocated 122 seats. There is one additional seat from the last redistribution plan prepared in 2012. The population of Ontario and calculation of the Provincial Electoral Quota On February 9, 2022, the Chief Statistician of Canada certified that the population of Ontario, as ascertained by the 2021 Census of Population, is 14,223,942. The Quota, as previously described, is determined by dividing Ontario's total population by the total number of seats. For 2022, the Quota is therefore 116,590. This Commission was committed to achieving voter parity throughout the province as much as reasonably possible, as mandated by the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act. Historical patterns, communities of interest and identity, and manageable geographic size were also considered. However, the Commission has concluded that the effect of uneven population shifts across the province over the past decade requires adjustments to many existing district boundaries in order to address patterns of voter un- Brooklin To Join Pickering Federal Electoral District? Continued on Page 9