For Immediate Release August 13, 2002

Electoral boundaries about to change

Ottawa – Elections Canada recently made public the proposed boundary changes for the electoral district of Dauphin-Swan River-Marquette.  These changes, if finalized, would give Dauphin-Swan River-Marquette area from the Portage-Lisgar riding.

Inky Mark, M.P. for Dauphin-Swan River-Marquette, commented, “Currently the riding is 50, 473 square kilometres large. With the proposed addition, the size would be about the same as the combined area of Brandon-Souris, Portage-Lisgar and Provencher federal ridings put together.  ”

Community governments in the riding requiring service would also increase with this change.  At present there are 88 community governments in the Dauphin-Swan River-Marquette riding.  The proposed redistribution would add three more local governments, to bring the number to 91.  Whereas, the MP’s of Brandon-Souris, Portage-Lisgar and Provencher have only 103 community governments to service between them.

Because of the size of the riding, and the population being evenly distributed throughout, Inky Mark maintains a full time administrative office in Dauphin and seven part-time community support offices in the riding.  This ensures that most constituents can telephone an MP office toll-free or have access to personal service within a one-half hour drive of their home.

Mark concluded, “If the proposed changes are passed by parliament, I intend to provide those new constituents with the same level of service and will open a community support office in the Town of Gladstone.