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TORONTO — Ontario’s north is set to get two more seats in time for next year’s provincial election, one of which would be a primarily Indigenous riding.

Attorney General Yasir Naqvi says the government will introduce legislation in the fall to implement two new ridings called Kiiwetinong and Mushkegowuk.

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Those two new ridings would bring Ontario’s provincial total up to 124, and are in addition to an already planned 15 new ridings across the rest of the province.

The government had tasked a Far North Electoral Boundaries Commission with looking at whether the region needed one or two more ridings and it said the overwhelming majority of feedback it received was that two should be created.

That means the area would include: the riding of Kiiwetinong, a majority Indigenous riding; Mushkegowuk, a majority Francophone riding including the Weenusk (Peawanuck) First Nation; Kenora-Rainy River, including Dryden, Fort Frances, Kenora and Rainy River; and Timmins.

The commission’s final report said it believes creating the additional ridings would lead to more effective representation for Ontarians living in the Far North.