Friday, April 13, 2012

Six Degrees of Variation

Red portions are 25%+ variances, Green are 25%- variances

Yeah, that was a bad riff on the human-connectedness parlour game. (Never mind the shite graphics)

But in terms of what the OMB has decreed as a guideline...

"As much as is practicable, the total population in each ward should not be greater or less than 25% of the average population per ward."

...Hamilton currently has SIX wards that are in variance of this. 

Before I list them, here are the guidelines according to the OMB given Hamilton's 2011 Census population of 519,949:

Average population per ward: 34663
25%+ average population mark: 43329
25%- average population mark: 25997

Wards 7 (62,179) and 8 (48,807) fall into the 25%+ category.
Wards 10 (23,524), 13 (24,907), 14 (17,634) and 15 (24,249) fall into the 25%- category. 

Six out of fifteen. 

Forty percent of our wards fall outside the OMB guidelines for Relative Population Parity. 

Now, I'm not saying that this is abnormal. I guess the real test would be to examine other municipalities in Ontario and see how we stack up. (Yes, I'm issuing myself a challenge here.) But for the time being, surely this percentage of 'non-standard' wards, especially in a changing landscape, warrants a thorough re-examination.




M Adrian Brassington

No comments:

Post a Comment

I'm always interested in feedback, differing opinions, even contrarian blasts...as long as they're delivered with decorum...with panache and flair always helping.