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'Modest adjustments' made to new federal riding for Wellington

The Wellington-Halton Hills riding will be renamed Wellington-Halton Hills North, with some initial changes proposed scrapped

Say goodbye to one new name, say hello to yet another.

The latest report from the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission of Ontario was tabled in the House of Commons Friday, after "extensive public submissions," and has made "modest adjustments" to the initial proposal to change the riding of Wellington-Halton Hills.

For one, the commission has scrapped the Wellington-Halton name that was initially proposed, in favour of a riding called Wellington-Halton Hills North.

As for the look, a piece of Milton – which was initially going to be part of the renamed riding – will be shifted back over to a riding with parts of Burlington.

To the north, East Garafraxa will remain part of a new Dufferin-Caledon riding, after the commission initially had it absorbed into Wellington-Halton.

The riding will also include a part of south Guelph, consisting of about 25,000 people from the city.

This, despite objections made to separate the city's riding boundary due to Guelph's growing population.

Guelph's southern boundary will be along the Hanlon Parkway, Hanlon's Creek and Arkell Road. Areas south of the line will be a part of the renamed Wellington-Halton Hills North riding.

Overall, the population of the new riding of Wellington-Halton Hills North is 105,440.

Previously, the Wellington-Halton Hills riding population was 115,885, as of the 2011 redistribution.

You can see the differences between the current riding, the August redistribution proposal and the latest changes using an interactive map on the commission's website.

The report brought to the House of Commons will be reviewed by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs.

"Guelph is another area of high population growth," the report said. "Here, and in other areas of the province, we received a few objections to 'donut' shaped arrangements where segments from the urban district are shaved off and transferred to the surrounding rural district to achieve relative population parity.

"While such solutions tend not to generate much immediate controversy (perhaps because they stay close to the status quo), over time they may become less reasonable as suburban populations continue to grow."

The initial riding boundary change map was released in August, and generated mixed emotions but overall respect for the process by community leaders.

The report also came out in the middle of a municipal election cycle.



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