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A first-term city councillor expressed no regrets about abruptly exiting a debate over rejigged ward boundaries, arguing his political colleagues were ignoring his and his constituents’ wishes.
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Ward 1 Coun. Hadleigh McAlister walked out of a Tuesday meeting and didn’t return as city politicians debated changes to London’s 14 ward boundaries – including to his east-end district, with proposed changes he felt weren’t aligned with what local residents want.
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“I felt at that point that they weren’t going to listen to me, so it made no sense for me to stick around at that point,” he said in an interview on Wednesday. “It was unfortunate, I would have liked my colleagues to be more receptive, but I didn’t think that they were listening.”
With the changes proposed, Ward 1 will go from one of the smallest ward populations to the biggest, at more than 42,000. McAlister wanted the number more in line with the rest of the city.
Before exiting, McAlister had failed in an attempt to shift an area of mostly industrial land between Clarke Road, the CN railway, the city’s eastern boundary and Hamilton Road to the Thames River away from what is proposed to become a new Ward 1.
He also intended to propose another tweak, shifting a chunk of Ward 1 land to Ward 11, but withdrew it and walked out mid-debate. In his absence, deputy mayor Shawn Lewis pushed that same change forward, and it was approved.
While the redrawn ward is “something that’s not going to be perfect,” McAlister says he believes the message he sent by exiting was heard by his colleagues.
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“Sometimes you have to make a bit of a scene to get them to listen to you, and I think they did after I left, which is kind of ironic,” he said.
Lewis spoke with reporters after the meeting, saying some council members felt uncomfortable making Ward 1 decisions without McAlister present. But, he noted, it’s not a final decision until politicians sitting as city council formally vote on it on Dec. 17.
“Of course, it does come to council next week, so he’ll have an opportunity to weigh in then,” Lewis said.
jmoulton@postmedia.com
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