Why MMP sounds good to me

View from the Strip
By Casey Lessard

For the most part, I am not well-represented at Queen’s Park. I’m an environmentalist and a vegan (and admittedly a bit of a hippie), and I am not aware of any sitting politicians who represent my views in the legislature. To be honest, vegans are a pretty small minority in this country, but I’m still a citizen and a voter. Shouldn’t I expect to be represented?
Okay, probably not as a vegan, but we shouldn’t fault the citizens’ assembly for recommending that underrepresented people should have our ideas presented in the legislature by someone who actually agrees with us. The Green party, for example, will need a lot more than three per cent to take a riding victory, but with three per cent across the province, doesn’t it make sense that someone from that party should be at the table to present their concerns and ideas? Three per cent is a lot of people: according to Statistics Canada, London is just over three per cent of the population of Ontario. Does London not deserve a place at the table? In fact, London will elect four MPPs this year.
Like you, I don’t agree with everything the Green party says. In fact, I don’t agree with everything presented in any of the party platforms I’ve read this election (or any other election, for that matter). Do you? If so, I suggest you’re in the minority. I believe most people have at least one thing they don’t like about what their party of choice stands for, and that’s equally true when we’re talking about a local candidate, even if they’re your neighbour or friend.
MMP, or mixed member proportional representation, will give you the opportunity to vote for the party you like and pick a candidate from a different party if you think they’ll serve you better at home.
Another plus is that it will give more people a reason to vote. If you know that there’s a chance someone with your ideals will be heading to Queen’s Park, you’re more likely to help make that happen.
The proposed electoral system change has made me pay attention to this election, and I think it would be good to force the big parties to listen to the rest of their legislative colleagues. As is the case in the journalism business, you don’t get an accurate sense of reality by always listening to the same people.

Meet the candidates: Lambton-Kent-Middlesex - James Armstrong

James Armstrong, Green
Hometown: Bothwell (45 years)
Occupation: 17 years at Sarnia Suncor refinery - currently Operations Program coordinator (management’s representative on the back shifts). Twenty-five years farming.
Political experience: Three years on the Lambton Kent District School Board Oct 2003. Ran as independent in the LKM riding with one school board platform. That, along with the rest of the Green Platform, is why I support the Greens this time. Six years on the executive of the Suncor employees bargaining association.
Community involvement: Alvinston Fair volunteer, member of the Alvinston Hackers, hockey coach.

What is the best way to stimulate the economy in your riding?
Lobby the federal government to lower the interest rate so our dollar value goes back down. The dollar where it is will eventually spell layoffs.

What is the biggest environmental issue facing your riding and what can be done to solve it?
Coal-fired generating stations: we should be investigating burning corn in them.

What is your solution for Ontario’s energy needs - nuclear power, coal, wind/solar?
Wind/solar/biomass. The Green Party and I believe in conservation of energy and renewable fuels.

Taxation: The Green party says it will cut income and corporate taxes in favour of pay-as-you-go consumption taxes. What is your opinion of that?
This will have to be phased in, today we are living in a convenience society and the packaging is contributing to the garbage problem

Do you think the minimum wage should be raised to $10 per hour?
Yes.

Do you support public funding for all faith-based schools?
NO. There should only be one school board. I am a new member of the Green party. I am frustrated with the flip-flopping of the Liberals and the Conservatives when it comes to funding of education. In 2000 the Liberals wanted to fund faith-based schools and the Conservatives would not. Now it’s a complete switch. I feel that at some point in time the public will catch on to the misleading promises that these two parties continue to campaign with, in order to get themselves elected and find alternative parties to support. I believe that if a party comes out with a campaign promise during the election campaign and it becomes a lie, the leader must resign.

Which electoral system will you be voting for: Mixed member proportional representation (MMP) or first past the post (FPTP)?
MMP.

Meet the candidates: Lambton-Kent-Middlesex - Brad Harness

Brad Harness, Reform of Ontario
Hometown: Strathroy & Ailsa Craig
Occupation: Publisher
Political experience: Ran in past municipal elections, sought Conservative nomination in riding in 2003.
Community involvement: Active volunteering with minor soccer, hockey & baseball; co-founded Ailsa Craig & District Historical Society.

What is the best way to stimulate the economy in your riding?
By increasing the population through immigration and home building to attract city residents. There is a serious shortage of labour in the eastern parts of the riding. In Wallaceburg, I am proposing a third bridge to cross the US border just north of Walpole Island.

What is the biggest environmental issue facing your riding and what can be done to solve it?
Water levels continue to drop. This is a long-term global issue affecting Canada and in this riding it affects agriculture in a major way, as well as shipping on the Great Lakes, and to a lesser extent, the commercial and recreational fishing industries. Sadly solutions are national/international in scope, geared to global warming and reducing its causes.

What is your solution for Ontario’s energy needs?
A better mix of all sources; a lesser reliance on nuclear power. Increased green power, in a decentralized generation format across Ontario, and an eventual decentralization of electrical distribution as well.

Should we favour consumption taxes over income and corporate taxes?
Taxes are too high and should be cut. Large government surpluses are not favoured by Reform (neither are deficits) and surpluses should go towards debt reduction and tax rebates to taxpayers.

Do you think the minimum wage should be raised to $10 per hour?
No. Established business knows what it needs to pay to attract the type of labour it requires. The $10/hour is an artificial limit that does little except make things exceedingly difficult for new businesses to get off the ground.

Do you support public funding for all faith-based schools?
We believe the solution to this is through a binding province-wide referendum with three choices: status quo (four public systems), two linguistic systems, or a single public system.

Which electoral system will you be voting for: MMP or first past the post?
We do not support the MMP solution, even though it plays in favour of smaller parties. MMP is a means of extending party control of democracy in Ontario. We propose alternate electoral reforms such as referenda, recall, and citizens initiatives, as well as preferential ballots. MMP would see 30 per cent of MPPs unaccountable and possibly unelectable individuals swept into the legislature through this back door. MMP would also preclude any recall system affecting these 30 per cent of our representatives.

Meet the candidates: Lambton-Kent-Middlesex - Bill McMaster

Bill McMaster, Family Coalition
Hometown: Bothwell
Occupation: Self Employed Mechanic
Political experience: Limited
Community involvement: Fire department, minor hockey in the past

What is the best way to stimulate the economy in your riding?
Cut taxes.

What is the biggest environmental issue facing your riding and what can be done to solve it?
Dumps.

What is your solution for Ontario’s energy needs?
We need wind power and to convert the coal plant.

Should we favour consumption taxes over income and corporate taxes?
I agree on cutting taxes. We already have high consumption taxes called GST and PST, more would hurt purchasing power.

Do you think the minimum wage should be raised to $10 per hour?
No.

Do you support public funding for all faith-based schools?
Provided that faith schools not be required to teach sex education as is taught in the public school system.

Which electoral system will you be voting for: MMP or first past the post?
Unsure as of yet.

Meet the candidates: Lambton-Kent-Middlesex - Joyce Jolliffe

Joyce Jolliffe, NDP
Hometown: Raised in rural Thamesville. Residing in Strathroy for 25 years.
Occupation: Retired from manufacturing sector.
Political experience: Ran in 2000 federal election to get my feet wet. Ran in 2003 provincial election. I also served as president of USWA Local 3313 for 14 years. I have been an advocate for Health and Safety, and Women’s Rights.
Community involvement: Served on a national and international women’s committee and actively fundraised for local women’s shelters. Help with the local VON by serving Meals on Wheels. I also sat on the labour participation committee for the United Way.

What is the best way to stimulate the economy in your riding?
In my opinion, the economy in our riding has three major components: farming, tourism and manufacturing. All of these areas are in trouble because of the high Canadian dollar and Canadians are not getting the benefit of more purchasing power from our higher dollars.
The first thing that needs to be done is to put the farming community on a level playing field with U.S. farmers. We could compete with U.S. farmers if the government would give our farming community the same deal the U.S. farmers get from their government. If that can be done, an import tax on U.S. farm products needs to be put in place to ensure U.S. farmers can not dump their products in our marketplace. The rules must be the same for everyone. The government needs to encourage more companies to set up workplaces that process farm products ready for store shelves. Our farmers should not have to rely on foreign producers to process our farm products. If elected, I would work to put our farmers on equal footing with their U.S. counterparts.

What is the biggest environmental issue facing your riding and what can be done to solve it?
Environmental issues in this riding are as wide ranging and varied as the riding is big. Residents of Coldstream are concerned about a proposed human waste dump. People in Bothwell are concerned that they will have to pay for sewage treatment when there is no problem evident. People in Wallaceburg are concerned about what chemicals they may find in the St. Clair River. The answer in many cases is the NDP proposal to extend the Right to Know legislation. We believe the people of Ontario have a right to know what is in the river and what affects a human waste dump have on groundwater and surface water. It is through the attainment of knowledge that we can protect ourselves and our children from environmental threats.

What is your solution for Ontario’s energy needs?
Nuclear power is expensive, unreliable and most importantly, environmentally risky. We need a significant boost in clean, renewable electricity such as wind, solar and water power, including a practical and ambitious plan to install 100,000 solar hot water heaters in homes by 2012.

Should we favour consumption taxes over income and corporate taxes?
The Green Party, to my knowledge, has not stated what the percentage would be! This is the wrong way to go. Lower income families and middle income families will pay more in the long run. We need to remember that you will be paying a consumption tax on everything you purchase.

Do you think the minimum wage should be raised to $10 per hour?
Yes, I do think the minimum wage should be $10 per hour and I would go as far as calling it a fair wage. Minimum wage increases have not kept up with inflation. In real terms, the minimum wage has decreased by eight per cent since 1995 and 20 per cent since 1976.

Do you support public funding for all faith-based schools?
I support a complete overhaul of the unfair Harris-McGuinty education funding formula – and annual hearings to ensure it’s working properly for all of our children.

Which electoral system will you be voting for: MMP or first past the post?
MMP.

Meet the candidates: Lambton-Kent-Middlesex - Monte McNaughton

Monte McNaughton, PC
Hometown: Newbury
Occupation: small businessman
Political Experience: Elected to Newbury municipal council in 1997 at age 20, serving three council terms.
Community Involvement: Has served on the board of directors at Four Counties Health Services and as chair of the Newbury Economic Development Committee. Board of directors for Beattie Haven Retirement Home, the Strathroy and District Chamber of Commerce; has served as Co-Chair of the Advocacy Committee on the Chamber of Commerce. General manager and co-owner of McNaughton Family Shopping Centre in Newbury and was awarded the 2005 North American Retailer of the Year Award.

What is the best way to stimulate the economy in your riding?
Since 2005, Ontario has lost more than 140,000 manufacturing jobs and in 2007, a RBC forecast placed Ontario dead last in Canada in economic growth. I believe Ontario can be a world leader again but we must plan for the future. John Tory’s plan to build a more prosperous Ontario will address two important areas: providing the strong business fundamentals that make investors choose our province, and investing in the cultural, educational, health care and environmental benefits that make people choose Ontario as their home. John Tory and I will eliminate Dalton McGuinty’s phony, so-called ‘health’ tax, putting money back into your pocket, and creating jobs for Ontario.

What is the biggest environmental issue facing your riding and what can be done to solve it?
Dalton McGuinty promised to shut down our coal plants – but the plants are still open, the air is still dirty, and technology that could have made a difference was delayed. Ontario’s coal-fired plants are still as dirty as ever, they still contribute to 1800 premature deaths year and they still cost our health care system billions of dollars - another broken promise. John Tory and I will clean up Ontario’s coal-powered plants, something that should have been done years ago. Where Dalton McGuinty has failed Ontarians, we will install clean air technology, such as scrubbers where they will do the most good. We will look at how we can use the latest technology to further improve our environment. For the environment, leadership matters.

What is your solution for Ontario’s energy needs?
We need clean, reliable and affordable energy in Ontario. John Tory and I have a realistic and ambitious plan. It starts with expanding the role of all renewable energy sources, including wind power, solar power, natural gas, biomass power that helps turn waste into a resource, and geothermal and ground source heat pumps that draw energy from the Earth itself. John Tory will also replace Ontario’s aging fleet of nuclear stations. Nuclear power is safe, reliable, affordable and greenhouse-gas free. Where Dalton McGuinty has dithered for four years, we will meaningfully advance the process for building new nuclear capacity right away to replace the capacity that is reaching the end of its operational life.

Should we favour consumption taxes over income and corporate taxes?
Fairness is a basic value for Ontarians. It means that government should respect Ontarians by taxing them fairly and being careful with their money – something we haven’t seen from Dalton McGuinty’s four years of waste and mismanagement. In 2004, Ontarians saw the biggest income tax hike in history when Dalton McGuinty broke his ‘no new taxes’ promise. Dalton McGuinty increased our taxes by $2.6 billion a year with an unfair, regressive tax that places a higher burden on lower-income people. That is why John Tory and I have announced major initiatives to deliver more fairness to Ontario’s hard-working families. These include eliminating Dalton McGuinty’s regressive, unfair, so-called ‘health’ tax, capping property tax assessments at 5% and being fair to rural and urban residents alike.

Do you think the minimum wage should be raised to $10 per hour?
Ontario needs a realistic minimum wage that allows Ontarians at that income level to live with dignity and that ensures that our small businesses can grow, prosper and create jobs. John Tory and I believe that a sudden increase in the minimum wage to over $10 will hurt Ontario’s small business owners and will result in job losses. John Tory and I believe that it is time to take politics out of the game of setting the minimum wage by creating a special commission that would determine what the appropriate wage level should be and how fast the wage level should increase.

Do you support public funding for all faith-based schools?
Today in Ontario, 53, 000 students are attending faith-based schools totally outside our public education system. John Tory and I believe these kids deserve an education that meets the very same standards we all embrace. Right now, there is no way to be sure of that. There is little oversight of faith-based schools, what they teach, or who is teaching it. Our plan would invite these schools and the 53,000 kids into the public education system as long as they: teach the Ontairo curriculum; hire only fully qualified Ontario teachers; and agree to ongoing accountability (student testing, inspection, etc.). We can’t go on leaving these 53,000 kids out. They need and deserve an education that is consistent with our accepted Ontario public education standards.

Which electoral system will you be voting for: MMP or first past the post?
The Ontario PC Party has no official position on the upcoming referendum. I believe there are benefits to both systems and look forward to reviewing each in the weeks ahead.

Meet the candidates: Lambton-Kent-Middlesex - Maria Van Bommel

Maria Van Bommel, Liberal
Hometown: Our farm is located just north of Strathroy.
Occupation: Currently the MPP for Lambton-Kent-Middlesex and poultry farmer with my husband Rene; mother of 5 and grandmother of 12.
Political experience: Two-term municipal councillor in former East Williams Township and MPP from 2003 to present; former Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, and currently Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.
Community involvement: Founding member of Middlesex’s Women for the Support of Agriculture and the Ontario Farm Women’s Network; past director of Middlesex Federation of Agriculture and former provincial director of Ontario Federation of Agriculture; trustee on the board of governors for the Strathroy Middlesex General Hospital, becoming its chair in 2001 and then the chair of the joint board of the Middlesex Hospital Alliance.

What is the best way to stimulate the economy in your riding?
Ensuring our youth are highly educated and our workforce has the apprenticeships and skills training available to them so that they are able to market themselves.

What is the biggest environmental issue facing your riding and what can be done to solve it?
Source Water Protection. We have implemented all the recommendations from the Walkerton Inquiry and are working with our communities to ensure our drinking water is safe.

What is your solution for Ontario’s energy needs?
We need to continue to invest heavily in green energy. In Lambton-Kent-Middlesex, this has resulted in investments in both solar and anaerobic digesters (which convert animal manure to energy).

Should we favour consumption taxes over income and corporate taxes?
(No.)

Do you think the minimum wage should be raised to $10 per hour?
Yes, but as our government has recommended, this must be phased in to allow our small businesses the ability to afford and adapt to the change.

Do you support public funding for all faith-based schools?
I support further strengthening the existing publicly funded education system.

MMP or first past the post?
I have concerns about how MMP will further reduce the representation in rural Ontario and for that reason, I will be choosing to support the existing method of voting or FPTP.

Meet the candidates: Huron-Bruce - Dave Joslin

Dave Joslin, Christian Heritage
Hometown: RR 2 Brussels-Grey Ward, Huron East
Occupation: Pressure Welder
Political experience: ran 5 times federally (Christian Heritage Party), this is the 2nd time for the Family Coalition Party
Community involvement: active church member, member of Grey Ward Deamalgamation Committee

What is the best way to stimulate the economy in your riding?
The best way to stimulate the economy in any riding is to keep taxes of all kinds as low as possible, to eliminate unnecessary regulations, permits, user fees, etc. Also, one must make sure the transportation and services (hydro, water, sewer, phone) are all present and in good shape. In short make the area as attractive for business as possible. One should also encourage consumers to shop locally when possible.

What is the biggest environmental issue facing your riding and what can be done to solve it?
Water is always a concern, especially since Walkerton. Low interest loans to upgrade septic systems, tax breaks to farmers who plant erosion/buffer strips and fencing to keep livestock out of watercourses are some of the ways this concern can be dealt with. Cities should prioritize their spending to ensure that infrastructure-roads, bridges, sewers, and proper capacity sewage treatment plants come well before other expenditures, i.e., arts or sports.

What is your solution for Ontario’s energy needs?
Diversity is the best solution. We have been given water, uranium, oil, natural gas and coal, wind and sun, and in some areas, geothermal. We should use them all. We have the technology to use them all safely: we ought to use it. We are very much in favour of small, independent power generators selling their surplus to the grid for a fair market price. We should deregulate the energy industry to allow for maximum competition. This will ensure a market based, rather than politically determined energy price

Should we favour consumption taxes over income and corporate taxes?
We are very much in favour of eliminating both corporate and income taxes; the former causes job losses as companies flee our high tax jurisdiction, and the latter discourages saving and investment. Consumption taxes (like the GST) are avoidable if you keep your spending down. They encourage frugality-a good thing, especially if combined with saving/investment. However, the only way this could be done at present would be to have a very high GST-say 20%, or shrink the size of government substantially. We would favour a modest consumption tax and a gradual but considerable downsizing of the government.

Do you think the minimum wage should be raised to $10 per hour?
No. Studies have shown repeatedly that minimum wage laws actually hurt the very people they are supposed to help. Only the ideological utopia of the socialist can you make a job worth ‘x’ number of dollars. Forcing employers to pay unskilled labourers wages higher than the market value will force them to stop hiring entry-level positions-or move to another jurisdiction.

Do you support public funding for all faith-based schools?
We support a voucher system in which the educational tax dollars would follow the child. In other words, force private and public schools to compete with each other for the academic dollar. Schools that excel in morals, academics and discipline would prosper, those that are substandard would go out of business-as they should.

Which electoral system will you be voting for: MMP or first past the post?
MMP.

Meet the candidates: Huron-Bruce - Paul Klopp

Paul Klopp, NDP
Hometown: municipality of Bluewater. Ward of Hay.
Occupation: farmer
Political experience: Provincial: M.P.P. Huron and Parliamentary Assistant Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food and Rural Affairs 1990-1995. Municipal: two-term deputy mayor, Municipality of Bluewater and Huron County councillor. Huron County Federation of Agriculture: past-president, and past regional director; presently director-at-large and chair of finance committee.
Community involvement: past-president and current board member of Zurich Agricultural Society; board member of Huron County Pork Producers; committee member of Ontario Soybean Growers’ Marketing Board (District 8); supporter of local hockey and skating clubs and other community events; board member Hay Communications Cooperative Ltd.

What is the best way to stimulate the economy in your riding?
One of the best ways to stimulate the economy in Huron-Bruce is to get serious about solving the farm income problem. Farm income has been at record low levels. Because of high input costs, and low commodity prices, it is costing farmers more to produce food than what they’re getting paid for it. This means that farmers aren’t investing in new equipment, or purchasing household goods from the local stores, etc. Negative ripple effects extend to agribusiness. A risk management program (RMP) is a good start to ensure that Ontario farmers have the dollars where they need to be, when they need to be there. The NDP would commit $300 million each year, starting with the 2007 crops, and this would include a retroactive payment for the 2006 crop year. This would be a good kick-start for the economy in Huron-Bruce. There would be positive ripple effects: when farmers do well, the rural economy does well.

What is the biggest environmental issue facing your riding and what can be done to solve it?
Waste management problems are the largest environmental issues.
Sewage: municipalities need money to upgrade their systems. The NDP would continue with more aggressive funding projects for towns and villages in Huron-Bruce that have been waiting in the queue for over ten years in some cases. Dumps: the NDP will be aggressive with a strategy based on “reduce, reuse and recycle.” We will help municipalities reach diversion goals with funding and not just regulations.
To help reduce the amount of product going into the waste stream, we will extend the producer responsibility laws which would ensure manufacturers and distributors bear their fair share of the cost of dealing with wasteful packaging.

What is your solution for Ontario’s energy needs?
There is no single solution for our energy needs. First of all, we need to reduce the demand for energy. Incentives to replace old appliances with new energy-efficient ones would be continued. Advancements in solar and wind power would continue to be explored as new technologies are being developed and should be supported. We are committed to decreasing automobile pollution through increased fuel efficiency.

Should we favour consumption taxes over income and corporate taxes?
Before I can give an opinion on this, I look forward to the Green party candidate for Huron-Bruce explaining the concept.

Do you think the minimum wage should be raised to $10 per hour?
The short answer is yes, the minimum wage should be increased. People should not be forced to earn below the poverty line. Minimum wage increases have not kept pace with inflation. In real terms the minimum wage has decreased by eight per cent since 1995 and twenty per cent since 1976. The Ontario coalition for social justice notes that in 1976, the minimum wage was 9.9% below the poverty line for a single person; but as of 2005 it was approximately 32% below the poverty line. In the long run, we will have a healthier economy and less social problems if working people earn enough.

Do you support public funding for all faith-based schools?
I can appreciate that some faiths wish to have their own schools, but I am not in favour of funding all of them. In fact, they may not even want that funding. The real issue is fixing the unfair Harris/McGuinty education funding formula. The NDP would overhaul the funding formula.

Which electoral system will you be voting for: MMP or first past the post?
I’m supporting MMP. Please remember this is a non-partisan issue. I encourage all voters to get informed and then to make their own decision, regardless of their party stripe.

Meet the candidates: Huron-Bruce - Carol Mitchell

Carol Mitchell, Liberal
Hometown: Clinton (born in Goderich twp)
Occupation: MPP, business owner
Political experience: MPP for Huron-Bruce (2003-present); parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Agriculture and Food; parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Public Infrastructure Renewal; Health & Social Services Policy Cabinet Committee, Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs, Conservation Action Team, Premier’s Research and Development Committee, and Government Agencies Review Committee. Carol is also the Chair of Rural Caucus and the Deputy Chair of the Liberal Caucus. Former warden of Huron County (1999, 2000); former Clinton town councillor, reeve and member of Huron County Council, reeve of Central Huron.

What is the best way to stimulate the economy in your riding?
The best way to stimulate the economy is to continue the programs, which we have started. Money invested in hospitals & family health teams make our communities more attractive for investment. Privatized health care as proposed by John Tory’s Conservatives will weaken our community hospitals and drain us of physicians. Education is essential for the modern economy. Our investment in the existing system of publicly funded schools has produced better student test scores. Apprenticeship programs have been expanded to meet the increased demands of local industry.

What is the biggest environmental issue facing your riding and what can be done to solve it?
Water quality is the major problem. The Water Source Protection Act plus the Clean Water Act will go a long way in solving the problem of water quality in the lake and rivers.

What is your solution for Ontario’s energy needs?
We already have a mix of renewable energy sources. We are first in North America for production of wind energy & solar energy. Nuclear energy is also a major part already and it will continue to be a major source of our electricity supply mix & a major contributor in our local economy. Coal will be phased out.

Should we favour consumption taxes over income and corporate taxes?
We have been down that road before. Tax cuts means closing schools and hospitals. There has to be a balance in the tax load. The last cuts in income taxes (the Mike Harris cuts) resulted in a shift to property taxes.

Do you think the minimum wage should be raised to $10 per hour?
The minimum wage will be increased to $10.25 per hour by 2010. It is being done over a period of time to allow employers to adjust to the increased costs.

Do you support public funding for all faith-based schools?
This is a step backward. The British North America Act established two public systems in Ontario. I support the existing systems. Adding more religions with their schools will take money away from the publicly funded schools. We have just overcome the last crisis, which the previous Conservative government created. Increasing the number of funded schools will segregate newcomers in our province and will increase the cost of education while taking much needed funding from small rural schools.

Which electoral system will you be voting for: MMP or first past the post?
I am opposed to the MMP system. The change will reduce the influence of rural areas & the reduction of the riding will make our rural riding too large. It will create a two-tier class of MPPs. Those with riding to which they are responsible will have a huge load compared to the unelected MPPs. I will vote no.

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