ROBERT KIRWAN - WARD 5
 

WARD BOUNDARY REVIEW

Amalgamation took place in 2001 and in 2006 we ended up with the twelve Wards that now exist. The Wards were created primarily according to population, but the time has come in 2014 to revisit the Ward boundaries and create divisions that are more consistent with the communities that form our City of Greater Sudbury. For example, Ward 5 contains two distinct communities. One community consists of Val Caron, Blezard Valley, Guilletville, and McCrea Heights. The other consists of the Sudbury component around the Lasalle Blvd/Notre Dame intersection.

Ward 5 is the one part of the City of Greater Sudbury that has the most potential for growth and it is going to be exciting to be able to represent this “core” area of the region. However, I think the time has come to provide the Sudbury portion with their own Councillor. I also think that the Town of Capreol should have its own Councillor. The same for Onaping Falls/Levack. After we divide up the City of Greater Sudbury we may end up with 18 or 20 different Wards, all being represented by individual Councillors. That, I believe, would be in the best interests of the City and is what I will be recommending.

Overview of Sudbury Section of Ward 5

The first thing to notice about the Sudbury Sector of Ward 5 is that there are four (4) distinct and completely different neighbourhood communities within this section of the Ward. This compounds the extreme difference that exists between the residents of Val Caron, Blezard Valley, McCrea Heights and Guilletville, in the Valley East sector.
 
It is expected that the 2018 Election will be the first one with a new set of Ward boundaries and Ward 5 will be one of the first to be considered for division. It is just too difficult for residents of the Sudbury sector of Ward 5 to identify with the concerns and issues of the Valley East sector of Ward 5. On top of this, it is too difficult for one Ward Councillor to integrate sufficiently in all sectors in order to completely understand the needs of the constituents.
 
It is my opinion that it would be in the best interests of the people living in the Sudbury sector of Ward 5 to be divided up and merged with Wards 4 and 12, the two Wards that are adjacent to that part of Ward 5. That would mean that the Valley East sector of Ward 5 would merge with the Val Therese section of Ward 6 and Capreol would be absorbed by Ward 6.
 
As it stands now, the residents of Ward 5, Sudbury sector, can count on excellent representation if I am elected because I am committed to representing the best interests of all of my constituents. It is not a matter of it being difficult for me to represent Ward 5 and by your voice at City Council. It's just that it would be nice to have some common features that are felt by the entire Wards. This is impossible with the current Ward boundaries.

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