Have your say on London’s new ward boundaries

Londoners gathered at the South London Community Centre Thursday for one of several meetings put on by the city to discuss possible ward boundary changes and provide feedback.

"The feedback gathered during Phase 2 will be crucial in refining our ward boundaries and ensuring that every Londoner has fair and effective representation," said Michael Schulthess, city clerk. "We encourage all residents to get involved and have their voices heard."

Uneven population growth across London has shifted the amount of political power residents have in different municipal wards.

There are four preliminary boundary change options created by a consulting firm, each evaluated by five factors:

1. Representation by Population
2. Population Growth
3. Community of Interest
4. Natural Boundaries
5. Effective Representation

“It's a board boundary review looking at the entire city and all the population, how it's dispersed, how wards are divided up and looking forward for the next couple election cycle. So about ten years of how our city is going to be represented and divided up. We've had extreme population growth and just trying to fix some of the disparities of 20,000 more constituents in some areas versus others, and how to serve Londoners better with representation,” said Ward 12 Coun. Elizabeth Peloza.

I'm just looking to see, what the boundaries will be if they change at all and whether or not they're forecasting that there's going to be a population growth in ward 14. I'm concerned about the future in terms of what's going to happen in our ward with respect to, the development that will be taking place in the coming years and aware, too, of what is happening in terms of the need for housing, which is a dramatic need right now for all cities in, in Ontario, but, particularly London,” said Ward 14 resident David Gillis.

You can share your feedback through the city’s online survey, available by following this link.

Council is expected to make a final decision this winter.