Quest to save riding stalled by heart attack

Carol Lonsdale was all set to have breakfast with Paul Martin at this weekend’s Liberal leadership convention in Toronto.

Lonsdale, president of the Timiskaming-Cochrane Federal Liberal Riding Association, had planned to lobby the future prime minister, to try to prevent her riding from being divided among the Nipissing, Timmins-James Bay and Nickel Belt ridings.

And then a real-life event overtook matters just as she was preparing to head south: her husband Jeff, 55, had a heart attack.

“He wasn’t doing very well and the doctors couldn’t stabilize him enough to send him to hospital in Sudbury,” Lonsdale said, from her home in Haileybury.
“So I can’t and I won’t go. I need to be here with him.”

Window of opportunity
In August an order-in-council approved the dissolving of Timiskaming-Cochrane, based on a recommendation by the Electoral Boundaries Commission, and moving the Tri-Towns into the new Nipissing-Timiskaming riding.

The House of Commons has passed a bill that would put the change into effect for an anticipated April election, but the Senate must approve the measure before Royal Assent can be given.

But the upper chamber has taken this week off, giving Lonsdale what she thought was a window of opportunity.

Only an act of parliament could preserve Timiskaming-Cochrane, and Lonsdale hoped to twist some arms into doing that while at the convention.

“People tell me it’s all over, that there’s no point fighting,” Lonsdale said.
“But if it happens I’m going to go down kicking and screaming, because it’s not over until the fat lady sings.”

Future of Northern ridings at stake
She’s not against redistribution of seats, Lonsdale added, but in favour of retaining all 11 Northern Ontario federal ridings.

“And that’s what I was going to tell Paul when we met, that we should have 107 ridings instead of 106, and that we need to save Timiskaming-Cochrane,” Lonsdale said.

Beyond that, Lonsdale said, is the future of all Northern ridings.

“With the exodus of our young people to the south, how long will it be before there aren’t any Northern ridings left at all, before they’re all gobbled up by large urban ridings?”

As well, Lonsdale said, the huge new Nipissing-Timiskaming riding would make it difficult for the area's MP to provide
proper representation at the local level.

Sad sad day
Timiskaming-Cochrane is unique, Lonsdale said, because there isn’t a single city within its boundaries.

“We’re also different than the ridings which would be taking us over, and our famous clay belt agricultural area would almost be cut in two,” Lonsdale said.

“What has happened is ridiculous and someone has to be able to save us and that will have to be the new prime minister himself.”

It will be “a sad, sad, day” if it doesn’t happen, Lonsdale said.

“I was born and raised here and I don’t want to see it disappear.”

To add insult to injury, Lonsdale said, current Ontario legislation provincial ridings are to be the same as federal, meaning Timiskiming-Cochrane would also be lost on the provincial electoral map.