Dear <>,
 

Last night, I spoke with Premier Ford about the upcoming changes in Toronto that will reduce the number of municipal wards from 44 to 25 prior to the upcoming municipal elections.
 

He personally confirmed to me that there are no plans to reduce the number of municipal wards in Ottawa. This morning, he likened Ottawa and Toronto to apples and oranges – and I agree.
 

With respect to Carleton, our riding is one of the largest ridings in Ontario that is still located within a single municipality. It is unique for a number of reasons: it has a large, but widely dispersed rural population; we have a strong and active local agricultural industry; we have communities that pre-date confederation; and we have new communities that are being built today. It takes me one hour just to drive from Stittsville in the north-west corner to Vernon in the south-east corner.
 

We have four hard-working city councillors, all serving different communities with their own individual and unique challenges and needs. I look forward to strengthening my relationship with Carleton’s four city councillors, whomever they might be, after the upcoming municipal elections. Their insight into local community issues continues to be invaluable. Their counsel provides me with an additional and welcome resource I can rely upon when representing, at Queen’s Park, the people that I serve.
 

Thank you,