Irked Manitoba MLA says review pushes boundaries too far

Conservative MLA Leanne Rowat isn't happy with a proposed map of Manitoba's redrawn electoral boundaries, released Wednesday; her Minnedosa riding would disappear.

In the new map, surrounding constituencies each share a piece of the southwestern Manitoba riding, which currently surrounds the town of Brandon.

The Manitoba Electoral Boundaries Commission is proposing new boundaries to reflect changing demographics, as required by the Electoral Divisions Act.

Using figures from the 2006 census, the commission worked to ensure each constituency included a certain percentage of the population, factoring in physical features, existing municipal boundaries and other aspects of each region.

Rowat said she understands that the demographics of rural Manitoba are changing, but she notes her home community, Souris, has changed constituencies three times in the last three reviews.

"Every time there's been a boundary change, my community has been put into a different constituency," she said. "We started in Arthur-Virden two boundaries back, we then went then into Turtle Mountain, and then we went into Minnedosa. And now we're back into Arthur-Virden."

Boundary changes affect more than the name on voters' ballots, she said.

"They have to trust you with it, and I think that when you continue to move communities around, and if you take away a whole constituency … in a sense you take away that one voice that they trusted that will bring the issues forward."

The boundaries commission is hosting public meetings on the changes in September. Rowat wants her community to loudly voice opposition to the proposed boundaries.

Of the province's 57 constituencies, only The Pas and Thompson are unchanged in the preliminary proposal.

The revised boundaries keep the urban-rural split the same in the province, with 26 seats outside the capital — including two in Brandon — and 31 seats in Winnipeg.

Among other changes:

• Most of the Ste. Rose constituency would be renamed Agassiz, while the former area's northernmost tip becomes part of Dauphin-Roblin.
• The two constituencies of Carman and Pembina would merge to form Carman-Pembina.
• A new constituency would be created around the towns of Morden and Winkler.
• In Winnipeg, the Lord Roberts would constituency disappear, being absorbed by the Fort Garry and newly created Pembina-Jubilee constituencies.
• In the north, a large section of the Rupertsland constituency, currently the province's largest in size, would become part of Flin Flon.

Following the public hearings in September, the commission will submit a final report to the lieutenant governor by Dec. 31, 2008.  The report will come into effect at the first dissolution of the legislature after that.