People across Northern Ontario could be getting more of a say in the provincial legislature. Steps are being taken to create additional ridings to improve representation.
Legislation was introduced Sept. 12 that would create the ridings of Kiiwetinoong, Mushkegowuk, Timmins, and Kenora-Rainy River.
The population of the new Kiiwetinoong riding would be 68 per cent Indigenous. The new riding of Mushkegowuk would be 60 per cent francophone and 27 per cent Indigenous.
“Kiiwetinoong” is the Ojibwe word for “north” and “Mushkegowuk” is Cree and can be translated into English to mean “People of the Swamp Land,” reads a press statement.
These proposed changes, if passed, would implement the recommendations of the Far North Electoral Boundaries Commission, which was tasked to find ways to improve representation for people living in northern communities, many of whom are Indigenous peoples and francophone.