Public meetings on review of Toronto's ward boundaries

City of Toronto Media Relations has issued the following:

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News Release:  December 9, 2014                           

Public meetings on review of Toronto's ward boundaries

Residents of the Etobicoke-York area are invited to provide their input as part of a review of the size and shape of Toronto's electoral wards. The Toronto Ward Boundary Review is intended to ensure that each person in Toronto has equitable representation at City Council.  

Toronto’s significant growth has resulted in wards with populations above or below the average of 60,958, with some wards 30 to 50 per cent above the average. The goal of the review is to ensure that the number of electors in every ward is similar to the number in other wards throughout the city.

The Toronto Ward Boundary Review's next series of public meetings will take place in the Etobicoke York Community Council area starting this week. The meetings will be held on Wednesday, December 10, Saturday, December 13 and Monday, December 15. Wednesday's meeting will be held at Richview Baptist Church, 1548 Kipling Ave., Saturday's meeting at Ourland Community Centre, 18 Ourland Ave., and Monday's meeting at Thistletown Community Centre, 925 Albion Rd.

These three meetings are part of a two-stage public consultation process. Additional information, including meeting times, locations and the full calendar of the review's public consultation meetings, is available at http://www.drawthelines.ca.

The review will take into consideration:

• the number of people living in each ward 

• geographic communities of interest and neighbourhoods 

• major physical and natural boundaries, and 

• population trends.

The City of Toronto has oversight of the Toronto Ward Boundary Review. The study is being conducted by an independent team of consultants that is responsible for making sure the process is not influenced by political interests.

This news release is also available on the City's website: http://bit.ly/1s8WqoB

Toronto is Canada's largest city, the fourth largest in North America, and home to a diverse population of about 2.8 million people. It is a global centre for business, finance, arts and culture and is consistently ranked one of the world's most livable cities. Toronto is proud to be the Host City for the 2015 Pan American and Parapan American Games. For information on non-emergency City services and programs, Toronto residents, businesses and visitors can visit http://www.toronto.ca, call 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or follow us @TorontoComms.

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Media contact: Beate Bowron, Toronto Ward Boundary Review, 416-365-0816, ext. 224, info@drawthelines.ca     

Meeting Details - Toronto & East York Community Council Area

Wednesday, January 7, 2015 | S. Walter Stewart Library      

Time: 6PM - 9PM
Address: 170 Memorial Park Ave., East York, ON  Room: John S. Ridout Auditorium
Major Intersection: Coxwell Ave. and Cosburn Ave.
TTC/Parking Information: Take the O'Connor bus northbound from Coxwell subway station.  Free parking lot adjacent to library.

Thursday, January 8, 2015 | Parkdale Library

Time: 6PM - 9PM
Address: 1303 Queen St W., Toronto, ON   Room: Auditorium
Major Intersection: Queen St. & Dufferin Ave.
TTC Information/Parking: TTC Dufferin bus #29 southbound from Dufferin subway station to Queen Street, walk 5 minutes west to the library. TTC streetcar #501 along Queen Street West.  Paid parking lot 1 block west on Queen Street.

Saturday, January 10, 2015 | Trinity St. Paul's Church

Time: 9AM - 12PM
Address: 427 Bloor Street W., Toronto, ON   Room: Gym
Major Intersection: Bloor & Spadina
TTC/Parking Information: Located one block west of the Spadina subway station. There are limited residential parking spots on the streets surrounding Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre. There are pay parking lots close by.