It’s time to redraw the Hamilton municipal ward boundary map.
The existing ward boundary map was established in 2001 by the Transition Board following amalgamation of the old City of Hamilton with its suburban and rural neighbours.
The current ward map is based on a compromise solution to appease the suburban and rural communities by providing them with representation based on historical boundaries.
Thus we have eight ridings in the former City of Hamilton and seven in the outlying rural and suburban communities.
However, the current boundary map fails to address population and geographical inequities that can no longer be ignored.
For instance, the three Hamilton Mountain wards — Wards 6, 7 and 8 — have the highest number of electors in the city, with 27,699, 38,478, and 32,996 respectively.
In contrast, wards 13 (Dundas), 14 (Wentworth) and 15 (Flamborough)  have the lowest number of electors in the city at 17,994, 11,682 and 17,445. Those numbers are based on the 2006 municipal election results and in all likelihood, the mountain wards have increased in population since then.
The large population discrepancies place an extra burden on the mountain councillors when it comes to responding to the concerns of their constituents. These discrepancies are not fair to the councillors or their constituents.
In short, the current system does not provide proper service to residents in the overpopulated wards.
At first blush, the simplest solution might be to add an extra councillor on Hamilton Mountain and redraw the boundary map with an extra ward.
However, the solution may not be that simple.
Geographical inequities are also a problem. While the rural and suburban wards have smaller populations than their urban counterparts, they are also much larger is size.
Wards 12 (Ancaster), 14 (Wentworth) and 15 (Flamborough) are large sprawling rural wards, and Ward 11 is a massive area which crosses various urban and rural areas from the Lake Ontario shores in Stoney Creek, through Winona, up the Niagara Escarpment to Binbrook and Mount Hope.
These large wards pose unique challenges to their elected representatives, which must be taken into consideration when it comes to redrawing ward boundaries.
Shared community concerns must also be taken into account. Ideally, the new map would not eliminate or divide existing communities with shared geographical and historical concerns.
Redrawing the Hamilton ward boundary map will not be an easy task, but it can no longer be put off for a future council to deal with as it was in 2008.
It must be dealt with now and it must be accomplished with as much public input as possible.
We urge council to begin a comprehensive review and public consultation as quickly as possible in order to have a new boundary map ready for the 2014 municipal election.