Blackburn Hamlet looks west: riding change raises questions about community identity, political implications

For residents of Blackburn Hamlet, it’s often easier to look east towards Orl é ans for shops, restaurants and other amenities rather than west towards the downtown core. It’s left some local residents of the suburban community in the city’s east end scratching their head over being lumped in with the riding of Ottawa—Vanier—Gloucester for the 2025 federal election. In 2022, the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Ontario redrew the boundaries for some of Ottawa’s ridings to ensure votes are weighted equally.

To the chagrin of residents and some local politicians, that resulted in Blackburn Hamlet being carved away from the Orl é ans riding it was previously part of and added to the newly formed Ottawa—Vanier—Gloucester, which includes downtown neighbourhoods, such as Lowertown, Sandy Hill, Overbrook and Vanier. “I find we tend to maybe associate ourselves a little bit more with Orl é ans,” said David Purchase, a community liaison for the Blackburn Hamlet Community Association. “There’s also the fact that it’s very bilingual, just like we are here in Blackburn.



There are a few different reasons why I would assume that most people would, I definitely do, feel like we’re more Orléans.” Beyond geography, Blackburn Hamlet residents feel that their priorities align more with Orl é ans than those of the stately neighbourhood of Rockcliffe Park or the vibrant ByWard Market, which are both in the Ottawa—Vanier—Gloucester riding. The shift raises questions about community identity and the implications of sharing a constituency office with downtown neighbourhoods.

It can often be challenging to pin down a neighbourhood’s identity. Shifting demographics, new development and different businesses opening and closing can change the texture of any neighbourhood to the point of unfamiliarity. However, there is something unique and uncompromising about Blackburn Hamlet, according to several people interviewed for this story.

It is a community contained and confined by the Greenbelt, preventing unending sprawl. For Laura Dudas, the city councillor for Orléans West-Innes, Blackburn Hamlet is a “remarkable neighbourhood” with a “village feel.” It’s walkable with a cluster of schools, shops and restaurants.

There’s also a library, pub and parks. The main thoroughfare of Innes Road cuts through the neighbourhood and Blackburn Hamlet’s proximity to trails within the Greenbelt gives residents easy access to outdoorsy activities such as hiking and cross-country skiing. Dudas adds that the neighbourhood, which had a population of around 8,000 at last count in 2021, has a strong background of volunteerism, “and throughout history, this little community has run its events, social programs, and recreational programs.

” When the new boundaries were proposed, residents sent in a smattering of letters to the commission in opposition. One letter said the combination of neighbourhoods in the new riding was “to mix apples with oranges.” Dudas, whose ward includes Blackburn Hamlet, was among those who opposed the changes.

“If you had to clump it in a riding...

It’s more akin to experiences, issues [and] opportunities faced by suburban areas in Orl é ans,” Dudas told the Ottawa Citizen. Liberal Marie-France Lalonde, who been the MP for Orléans since 2019 and represented the riding in the provincial riding before that, also opposed the changes. In a letter, she argued that the residents of Blackburn Hamlet “share an important sense of belonging” to Orléans that would be lost by the new boundaries.

“When you speak to residents of Blackburn Hamlet, they will tell you they have seen the whole area change and become larger as one,” she wrote. “Ottawa-Vanier was another world, and it still is. They have grown along with the Orleans area and what affected Orleans affected the residents of Blackburn.

” Lalonde did not respond to the Ottawa Citizen’s interview request in time for publication. Alex Marland, a professor and Jarislowsky chair in trust and political leadership at Acadia University and former resident of Blackburn, doesn’t believe a neighbourhood’s identity will change because it is a new riding. He sees that only becoming an issue if a riding splits a community in two, like it did with Stittsville when the north side of Hazeldean Road was grouped with Kanata, and the south side of the street became part of Carleton.

“That would create a lot of confusion for people, because what would happen is they wouldn’t know who their MP was, so it’s a lot easier to group Blackburn Hamlet,” he said. “That does happen sometimes where you do have lines go right through communities, I mean, you can imagine, if you’re in Toronto, trying to figure out who your MP is, it can be tough.” Still for Purchase, driving down Innes Road East, where many of his childhood friends still live, is much more predictable than heading towards the core.

It’s a sentiment Dudas agrees with. However, now that the riding change is official, Dudas and Purchase look forward to meeting their new MP, whoever it is, to ensure that the new representative understands the complexities of Blackburn Hamlet’s identity and issues. Mona Fortier is the Liberal candidate running in the new riding.

The riding, previously known as Ottawa-Vanier, has been reliably Liberal since its inception in 1935, when it was known as Ottawa East. On April 16, Fortier was knocking on doors in Blackburn Hamlet, reminding voters that the boundaries have changed and handing out cards alongside Lalonde. Fortier said she used to live in Blackburn Hamlet for a few years when she was young.

Fortier, who said she has met with Dudas, added she is committed to understanding the community’s issues, and that she’s heard housing is at the top of the minds of many voters in Blackburn Hamlet. She added that the neighbourhood is similar to others included in the riding, such as Beacon Hill. “T hey fit in a great diverse riding, and I know that we’ll be working together very closely,” she said.

It’s a sentiment shared by one of Fortier’s competitors, Tristan Oliff of the NDP. Oliff described Blackburn Hamlet as an “interesting little microcosm,” given its unique mix of incomes, housing density and walkable infrastructure. When speaking to voters in the community, Oliff said he didn’t hear any concerns about the identity of Blackburn Hamlet shifting because of the riding change.

Christian Proulx, the Green candidate for the riding, and Dean Wythe, the Conservative, did not respond to interview requests for this story in time for publication. It’s unclear whether the addition of Blackburn Hamlet will have any political implications for the riding. As of April 17, polling aggregator 338Canada identified Ottawa—Vanier—Gloucester as a safe Liberal seat.

Marland says that often only 10 per cent of voters cast ballots based on local candidates, which means larger national forces will likely determine the fate of the new riding. But for the neighbourhood, whether it is under a riding name associated with the east end or the core, it will remain uniquely Blackburn. The only change? Perhaps it will be a longer drive to the new constituency office.

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