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Superstar
I think the last change was in 2000. See: http://www.toronto.ca/wards/options2000.htm
The city wards are based on the provincial ridings, which in turn are based on the federal ridings, cut in half.
Unfortunately, the federal ridings give better representation to the rural population. The more urban the ridings, the larger the population base. The more rural the ridings, the smaller the population base. Suburban is the "happy" medium.
The city wards are based on the provincial ridings, which in turn are based on the federal ridings, cut in half.
Unfortunately, the federal ridings give better representation to the rural population. The more urban the ridings, the larger the population base. The more rural the ridings, the smaller the population base. Suburban is the "happy" medium.
I think it's time to redraw the wards in Toronto. Denser areas are far underrepresented.
Downtown Toronto, the single most dense area in Toronto is represented by a SINGLE councillor. The same thing can be said about surrounding wards. At the same time, areas with lower population density in Western Etobicoke and Eastern Scarborough have greater political representation. This is clearly not a very fair or democratic system. The Downtown ward alone should have representation from at least two councillors. I would like to see legislation that would mandate that the drawing of wards be revisited every 20 years to solve this issue. If the Fords bring up the issue of the number of councillors, it would be a great time to bring this issue up.
Downtown (including Toronto Islands) is split with three City Councillors (should be four or five given the enormous workload IMO), Wards 20, 27 & 28
Run Robo Flop, runnnnnnnnnnnn.....THUD!!!
http://www.torontosun.com/2013/04/15/mayor-rob-ford-drops-f-bomb-after-walking-into-camera
Yea I mean I get from a representational standpoint why you could argue for needing more councillors, but having volunteered in a councillors office myself from my experience staff typically handle most problems not the actual councillor (especially since a lot of the time we directed these folks to 311). I can't speak for every councillor obviously though. I don't know if adding councillors is really needed from a workload standpoint.
They are well trained and well connected to deal with problems like "my streetlights are out", "I slipped & hurt myself on an icy sidewalk" & "the big pile of snow made by the snow plow still hasn't melted behind my building and it's May" (Kyle Rae gifted me with that classic!) and pass on the important issues & missed calls to the Councillor. The Councillor can't send one of his/her assistants to community meetings, ceremonies, public events, Council meetings, briefings with City Staff, City Planners or legal council - Vaughan, KWT and McConnell have a heck of a lot on their plates right now with so much happening in their wards. You'll never see one of those people shopping at a strip mall at 4:30 on a weekday afternoon near their home (had to get that in!).
I live in Ward 28 and must say that Pam McConnell and her staff work very hard and have very long hours. I do not always agree with how she deals with things but one cannot fault her or her staff for lack of effort. Pam herself is constantly popping up at community meetings, festivities and events and she clearly knows her Ward very well and her staff are also well informed of the problems and opportunities in her Ward and how best to solve problems. That is, in fact, part of the problem as Councillors in Toronto - compared to those in the thre other Cities in which I have lived - seem to have to spend far too much time dealing with minor problems -e.g. driveways, litter, signs and potholes - and thus have less to spend on things such as long-term planning and 'city building'. Now that the City's 311 service is up and running and seems to be pretty efficient this may encourage citizens to use it before 'calling my Councillor' . Councillors like the Fords who love to solve minor problems (but seem uninterested in or unaware of the larger issues) will not like this; Councillors like Pam McConnell, Adam Vaughn and a few others who see the 'big picture' may have more time to study it. If Councillors and their staff could get away from solving these minor - but important - local problems then the number of Councillors could probably be reduced and those who remained could devote more time to the larger issues.Some of the councilors may actually READ the city reports, correspondence, and agreements they get. I'm sure they have staff who read the newspapers and blogs (like urbantoronto.ca), and cut & paste and pass the information onto the councilor.
I think it's time to redraw the wards in Toronto. Denser areas are far underrepresented.
Take a look at the population density vs. the number of wards
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Downtown Toronto, the single most dense area in Toronto is represented by a SINGLE councillor. The same thing can be said about surrounding wards. At the same time, areas with lower population density in Western Etobicoke and Eastern Scarborough have greater political representation. This is clearly not a very fair or democratic system. The Downtown ward alone should have representation from at least two councillors. I would like to see legislation that would mandate that the drawing of wards be revisited every 20 years to solve this issue. If the Fords bring up the issue of the number of councillors, it would be a great time to bring this issue up.
The city wards are based on the provincial ridings, which in turn are based on the federal ridings, cut in half.
Unfortunately, the federal ridings give better representation to the rural population. The more urban the ridings, the larger the population base. The more rural the ridings, the smaller the population base. Suburban is the "happy" medium.
Sorry to break it to you, but your description of both maps are wrong.
The top map is population + EMPLOYMENT density. Employment isn't relevant to discussions about representation.
The bottom map is out of date (13 years old?) and doesn't reflect the current boundaries.
They were. however the 22 federal ridings and provincial ridings were adjusted a decade ago after the 2001 census (resulting in 22.5 ridings). The city wards are still based on the 1991 census. So anywhere that has seen significant growth in population since 1991, is grossly under-represented.The city wards are based on the provincial ridings, which in turn are based on the federal ridings, cut in half.
Area | 1997 | 2006 | 2014 |
Etobicoke/York | 11 | 11 | 11 |
North York | 11 | 11 | 13 |
Scarborough | 10 | 11 | 12 |
Toronto-East York | 12 | 12 | 14 |
TOTAL | 44 | 45 | 50 |