We Demand a Ward Boundary Review

We the undersigned, eligible municipal electors in the Town of New Tecumseth, hereby petition the Council of New Tecumseth, to immediately order a review of the current Eight Ward Boundary system in New Tecumseth, so that any changes can be implemented in time for the October 22, 2018, municipal elections.

To support our position, we cite Section 223 of the Municipal Act, which states as follows: (1) Electors in a municipality may present a petition to the council asking the council to pass a by-law dividing or redividing the municipality into wards or dissolving the existing wards; and (2) The petition requires the signatures of 1 per cent of the electors in the municipality or 500 of the electors in the municipality, whichever is less, but, in any event, a minimum of 50 signatures of the electors in the municipality is required.

In 2014, there were 23,258 eligible voters in New Tecumseth, which means 233 signatures are required.

We, the undersigned, believe the review, and subsequent recommendations that flow from it, should have as its primary focus, the goal of rebalancing the size and representation of each Ward to address growing inequities due to growth in certain parts of the municipalities.