Since last I wrote on “The Last Gasp of Redistribution 2022: Changing the Names of Ridings” in early April, the House of Commons debated Bill C-25 (part II of which contains the Riding Name Change Act, 2026), at Second Reading, the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs (PROC) examined the legislation clause by clause and made some additional changes to the names of the ridings established under the Representation Orders, 2023.  An Act to change the names of certain electoral districts, 2026  as adopted by the House of Commons in June 2026 would modify the names of 17 out of the 340 ridings established under the Representation Orders, 2023; 11 of the 17 ridings, or 65%, would grow in length, and only by an average of seven characters. While six out of the seven from Quebec would conform to the old pattern and grow appreciably, the names of all three of these ridings in Ontario would shrink. One of the three from Newfoundland and Labrador would also get shorter, as would the one from Saskatchewan.

At first reading, Bill C-25 would have re-named five ridings in Ontario,[1] but the House of Commons ended up adopting only three such changes in Ontario after two MPs withdrew their requests voluntarily.[2] Conservative-turned-Liberal MP Marilyn Gladu and still-Conservative MP Shelby Kramp-Neuman both withdrew their amendments to delete the new indigenous names from their ridings after local band councils objected,[3] while Conservative MP from Quebec Joel Godin and Liberal MP from Quebec Sherry Romanado changed the name of their ridings again. In total, the House of Commons endorsed changing the names of 17 of the 340 ridings established under the Representation Orders, 2023.[4]

Conservative MP Larry Brock first won election to Brantford—Brant in 2021 and raised no objection to the new name of Brantford—Brant South—Six Nations before PROC in 2023. However, Brock opted in 2026 to remove the “Six Nations” and restore his riding’s previous name in 2026 with the support of the Six Nations of the Grand River themselves.[5] Conservative MP Shelby Kramp-Neuman first won election to Hastings—Lennox and Addington in 2021 and likewise raised no objections before PROC in 2023 when Ontario’s FEBC changed the name of her riding to Hastings—Lennox and Addington—Tyendinaga. In contrast to her colleague, Kramp-Neuman originally sought to remove “Tyendinaga” from Hastings—Lennox and Addington—Tyendinaga and restore her riding’s previous name without first having consulted with local First Nations; after the Tyendinaga band council objected, she withdrew her proposal, and PROC struck her request from the legislation.[6]

Conservative-turned-Liberal MP Marilyn Gladu first won the riding of Sarnia—Lambton in 2015 and won it again in 2019 and once more in 2021. Not only did Gladu present no objection in 2023 to tacking on Bkejwanong to her riding, but she even admonished Liberal MP Peter Fragiskatos during PROC on 4 May 2023 who had not attended the public hearings in and around London, Ontario.[7] Gladu had, however, sent in a written comment to Ontario’s FEBC during the public consultations in 2022 in which she objected not to recognising indigenous names in principle but to Bkejwanong in particular. She described Bkejwanong as “unfair to the Aamjiwnaang and the Three Fires Confederacy (the Ojibwe, Odawa, and the Potawatomi) who have been in this riding for decades and are not included in the Walpole Island name.”[8] Gladu suggested that the FEBC substitute “Anishinaabe” for “Bkejwanong.”[9] She claimed to have “reached out to local First Nations” in 2022, but Leela Thomas, Chief of the Walpole Island First Nation, stated that Gladu had never consulted her about removing Bkejwanong from the name of the riding.[10] Thomas also described including Bkejwanong “as a meaningful step toward recognition.”[11] Gladu initially sought to restore her riding’s previous name, but she recanted after having crossed the floor to the Liberals on 8 April 2026 and heard from Leela Thomas.[12] Gladu agreed to keep the riding Sarnia—Lambton— Bkejwanong and asked that PROC amend the legislation according.[13]

Peter Loewen, a Professor of Political Science and member of the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission (FEBC) for Ontario from 2021 to 2023, appeared before PROC on 26 May and defended including indigenous names in Ontario’s ridings. Such names already form part of Canada’s “political geography” and recognising them in federal electoral districts contributes to reconciliation.[14] Furthermore, Ontario’s FEBC sought to “add names to [ridings] rather than take them away,” which amounts to “a positive way of recognising Canada’s indigenous history and indigenous present.”[15] Loewen also argued that “MPs should not get to name their own ridings,”[16] which would mean that Parliament needs to try preventing them from doing so again. Loewen here echoed the criticism of previous decades. The Lortie Commission had recommended in 1991 that “the name of the constituency not be changed other than during the boundaries readjustment process.”[17] Parliament should have amended EBRA to say that only the FEBCs could change the names of electoral districts, after which MPs could only try to change the names of their ridings if Parliament first amended EBRA directly and then by enacting subsequent legislation, or if Parliament adopted such legislation notwithstanding EBRA. That complication could deter vandalising the representation orders of subsequent decades. The Senate’s Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs offered an alternative method in the early 2000s: that Parliament amend EBRA such that the FEBCs must accept PROC’s unanimous recommendation to change the name of a riding.[18] Parliament never took up either option.

Similar Posts: 

• Readjusting Electoral Boundaries
• The Last Gasp of Redistribution 2022: Changing the Names of Ridings, Part 1 (April 2026)
• Ontario Needs to Readjust Its Provincial Electoral Boundaries Regularly (November 2025)
• Doug Ford Wins Snap Election on an Extremely Disproportional Electoral Map (March 2025)
• Doug Ford’s Gibberish on Gerrymandering: Why Ontario Needs Its Own Separate Provincial Electoral Boundaries Commission (August 2024)
• Bowden, J.W.J. “Adjusting Federal Electoral Boundaries in Canada: Redistribution 2022,” Canadian Parliamentary Review: A Focus on Electoral Boundaries Redistribution 47, no.1 (2024): 3-13.

Notes

[1] Bill C-25, An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act and to enact An Act to change the names of certain electoral districts, 2026, 45^th Parliament, 1^st Session, 3-4 Charles III, 2025-2026, First Reading, 26 March 2026.

[2] Bill C-25, An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act and to enact An Act to change the names of certain electoral districts, 2026, 45^th Parliament, 1^st Session, 3-4 Charles III, 2025-2026, Third Reading, 11 June 2026.

[3] Michael Cooper and Arielle Kayabaga, “Bill C-25,” Evidence: Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, 4^5th Parliament, 1^st Session, Number 036, Tuesday, 2 June 2026, at pages 5-6.

[4] Bill C-25, An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act and to enact An Act to change the names of certain electoral districts, 2026, 45^th Parliament, 1^st Session, 3-4 Charles III, 2025-2026, Third Reading, 11 June 2026.

[5] Laura Ryckewaert, “Proposed Removal of Indigenous References in Three Federal Ridings Names Draws Criticism,” The Hill Times, 21 April 2026. <https://www.hilltimes.com/2026/04/21/proposed-removal-of-indigenous-references-in-three-federal-riding-names-draws-criticism/500495/&gt;

[6] Laura Ryckewaert, “Two MPs Rescind Requests to Remove Indigenous References from Federal Riding Names,” The Hill Times, 27 May 2026. <https://www.hilltimes.com/2026/05/27/two-mps-rescind-requests-to-remove-indigenous-references-from-federal-riding-names/505133/&gt;

[7] Marilyn Gladu (Conservative MP for Sarnia—Lambton), “Study on the Report of the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for the Province of Ontario,” Evidence: Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, 44^th Parliament, 1^st Session, Number 069, Thursday, 4 May 2023, at page 4. “I attended the London public hearing. It’s unfortunate that Mr. Fragiskatos wasn’t there […].”

[8] Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for the Province of Ontario, Public Participation, Comments and Feedback, Comment 53: Marilyn Gladu, MP for Sarnia—Lambton, 2022. <https://redecoupage-redistribution-2022.ca/com/on/phrg/othaut/southernon/getCmt_e.aspx?cmt=cmt53 >

[9] Ibid.

[10] Robynne Hay, “Gladu Seeks to Strip Bkejwagnong from Riding Name,” The Journal, 23 April 2026. <https://www.thesarniajournal.ca/news/gladu-seeks-to-strip-bkejwanong-from-riding-name-12180999&gt;

[11] Ibid.

[12] Natalia Vega, “Gladu Withdraws Request, Wants to Keep Sarnia-Lambton-Bkejwanong Name,” Sarnia News Today, 20 May 2026. <https://sarnianewstoday.ca/sarnia/news/2026/05/20/gladu-withdraws-request-wants-to-keep-sarnia-lambton-bkejwanong-name&gt;

[13] Catharine Tunney, “Former Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu Crosses Floor to Liberals,” CBC News, 8 April 2026. <https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/conservative-mp-marilyn-gladu-crosses-floor-to-liberals-9.7156167&gt;

[14] Peter Loewen, “Bill C-25,” Evidence: Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, 4^5th Parliament, 1^st Session, Number 034, Tuesday, 26 May 2026, at page 3.

[15] Peter Loewen, “Bill C-25,” Evidence: Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, 4^5th Parliament, 1^st Session, Number 034, Tuesday, 26 May 2026, at pages 8-9.

[16] Peter Loewen, “Bill C-25,” Evidence: Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, 4^5th Parliament, 1^st Session, Number 034, Tuesday, 26 May 2026, at page 4.

[17] Noel A. Kinsella, “Bill to Chance Names of Certain Electoral Districts: Second Reading,” Debates of the Senate, 37^th Parliament, 3^rd Session, Volume 141, Number 18, Tuesday, 9 March 2004, at page 465.

[18] Senate of Canada, 37^th Parliament, 3^rd Session, Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, Eighth Report, Thursday, 6 May 2004, at page 3.