Municipality approves new ward boundaries

Municipality approves new ward boundaries

The council rejected another proposal that would have created six wards, voting instead to establish amended wards based on the following areas:

Ward 1: the eastern half of the municipality, extending west to Smiths Ferry Road and Villeneuve Road, and including the settlement areas of Saint-Isidore, Saint-Bernardin, Fournier and Riceville.

Ward 2 : the central part of the Municipality bound by Smiths Ferry Road and Villeneuve Road to the east, Bertrand Sideroad and South Nation River to the west, and Highway 417 and the Village of Casselman to the south.

Ward 3: the southwest portion of the municipality, including the settlement area of Saint-Albert, and is bound to the north by Route 500 West and Highway 417.

Ward 4: the northwest part of the municipality, including the settlement area of Limoges, and bound to the east by Bertrand Sideroad, South Nation River and Highway 417, and by Route 500 West to the south.

The existing ward boundaries have been adjusted under the proposal to better reflect the population of each area, forming an average population of 3475. A wide population difference will remain, however, with Ward 4 holding 4950 people, compared to the least populous Ward 2’s 2620.

The other boundary option would involve redrawing the entire map to accommodate two extra wards, with the electorates ranging in population from 1830 to 2960 residents each.

In its report recommending the two options, Watson & Associates Economists said the winning option’s population variance ensured the Limoges “community of interest” could be retained in a single ward.

“Given the strong expression and obvious evidence that the Limoges settlement area is different from the rest of The Nation, option 1 is viewed as a way to capture those attributes in a single ward as well as enhancing effective representation across the entire municipality,” the report stated.

A bylaw will set the boundary changes before the next municipal election in 2022.

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