1, I genuinely thank you & Happy Thanksgiving! 2, over 400 signatories, and , over 60 shares!

On this Thanksgiving day, I am genuinely thankful for everyone who has signed the petition, I am also grateful to be able to sit in front of a computer with a degree of comfort and not worry about food or shelter- I am thankful that I can post this update. I am a lawyer, that is 1. Politics, for me, is #2, it's a hobby, though nevertheless, one that I do take seriously and it's not a lark or a joke to me.

We have passed a significant milestone- 400 signatures and over 60 shares on a petition that deals with rather technical matters. It is not particularly emotive and certainly does not have any great visuals to go with it as of yet. (Maybe the picture of theYork Memorial Collegiate Institute in flames might help?) 

Let me tell you why this non-partisan petition matters: both very different communities on either bank of the Humber river are justly required to have their own representation and not have them merged and diluted. Further note, as various courts have commented:

 A particular meaning of “democracy” is offered by S.M. Lipset [in Political Man (New York: Doubleday, 1960) at p. 45]:Democracy in a complex society may be defined as a political system which supplies regular constitutional opportunities for changing the governing officials, and a social mechanism which permits the largest possible part of the population to influence major decisions by choosing among contenders for political office.
(Black v. Law Society (Alberta) (1986), 1986 ABCA 68, [1986] A.J. No. 201, [1986] 3 W.W.R. 590, 27 D.L.R. (4th) 527, 1986 CarswellAlta 48, 20 C.R.R. 117, 44 Alta. L.R. (2d) 1, 20 Admin. L.R. 140, 68 A.R. 259 (Alta. C.A.) at para. 74 Kerns J.A.)

I submit that in order for "the largest possible part" to have influence, those parts ought not be diluted in some unwanted shotgun marriage. We need to keep Etobicoke Centre and York South Weston separate. 

As the Supreme Court ruled:

Since Confederation, efforts to extend the franchise to those unjustly excluded from participation in our political system — such as women, minorities, and aboriginal peoples — have continued, with some success, to the present day.
Democracy is not simply concerned with the process of government. On the contrary ... ... Democracy accommodates cultural and group identities ... ... In considering the scope and purpose of the [Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms], the Court in R. v. Oakes, [1986] 1 S.C.R. 103 ... articulated some of the values inherent in the notion of democracy (at p. 136):
The Court must be guided by the values and principles essential to a free and democratic society which ... to embody, to name but a few, respect for the inherent dignity of the human person, commitment to social justice and equality, accommodation of a wide variety of beliefs, respect for cultural and group identity, and faith in social and political institutions which enhance the participation of individuals and groups in society.(Reference re Secession of Quebec (1998), [1998] S.C.J. No. 61, [1998] 2 S.C.R. 217, 228 N.R. 203, 161 D.L.R. (4th) 385, 1998 CarswellNat 1300, 1998 CarswellNat 1299, 55 C.R.R. (2d) 1 (S.C.C.) at para. 63, 64, 65 Lamer C.J.C., L'Heureux-Dubé, Gonthier, Cory, McLachlin, Iacobucci, Major, Bastarache and Binnie JJ.)

In order for there to be a proper accommodation of different groups, in particular, the two different groups occupying the two different banks of the Humber River, Etobicoke Centre and York South Weston ought not be merged. Doing so may hinder these two differing and equally valid communities' " faith in social and political institutions which enhance the participation of individuals and groups in society." 

And that is why this petition is important. 

I know the commission that is redrawing the boundaries is acting as honestly and as professionally as possible and no malice is alleged, to be clear, but if Etobicoke Centre east of Islington is forced to merge with the western part of York South Weston, democracy might not be set ablaze, but it will be harmed.