Don’t rename Emerson constituency, MLA urges

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This article was published 18/02/2019 (1887 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Emerson MLA Cliff Graydon wants to see his constituency keep its name in the next provincial election, which would require reversing a decision made by an independent commission to rename the area Borderland.

Graydon outlined his concerns in a letter sent to the Manitoba Electoral Divisions Boundaries Commission today.

“A group of individuals whom nobody elected have decided that the name of Emerson belongs in the waste bin of history. They have decided without consultation to change the name of the constituency to a new one, Borderland, a term nobody identifies with and a term that carries no history of its own,” Graydon wrote. 

“Emerson is one of the first communities of the province, and has a unique history. It belongs in the Manitoba legislature and belongs to its people.”

Graydon asked that the name reversal be considered immediately. In a subsequent interview, he said “a number of people” have approached him with concerns about the area’s name change, though he couldn’t specify exactly how many.

“History is very, very important to everyone. If you don’t know where you came from, you’re not going to know where you’re going,” Graydon said.

Dave Carlson, reeve of the RM of Emerson-Franklin, said his council also requested in writing that the commission reverse its name change. They received a response saying the matter wouldn’t be reconsidered.

Alison Mitchell, a spokesperson with Elections Manitoba, confirmed today there is no appeals process when it comes to the Electoral Divisions Boundaries Commission’s final report. Public submissions were taken into account in early 2018.

In an interview, Carlson said residents have had a “mixed reaction” to the Borderland moniker, but he would personally like to see Emerson remain.

“Emerson is a community that has a lot of significance historically, and so keeping the name would have for sure been nice, and it would have honoured that heritage and the pioneers and things,” the reeve said. “But at the same time, we tried, and they just said, ‘No, it wasn’t happening.’ ”

“I know some other areas, the names changed as well. So, I guess there’s probably some folks who aren’t happy in other areas as well,” Carlson said.

In December, the commission revealed new names and boundary shifts reflecting Manitoba’s population growth, redrawing the provincial constituency lines for the 2020 election.

The former Emerson constituency expanded west and was renamed Borderland.

Every constituency except Portage la Prairie had some of its limits rejigged. Fourteen of the 57 constituencies got new names.

Graydon, a 72-year-old Independent MLA, previously said he would not be running for re-election in 2020, after he was removed from the Progressive Conservative caucus last fall while under scrutiny for sexual harassment allegations. 

Today, he seemed to still be mulling the decision.

“At this point, I’m not running, but there has been a lot of push to run and I have resisted that at this point,” Graydon said.

jessica.botelho@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @_jessbu