Close X
Saturday, November 23, 2024
ADVT 
National

Boundary commission seeks six new B.C. ridings

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 04 Apr, 2023 11:59 AM
  • Boundary commission seeks six new B.C. ridings

VICTORIA - British Columbia's Electoral Boundaries Commission is recommending the creation of six more electoral districts in the province, raising the number of ridings to 93 from the current 87.

The commission has submitted its final report and elected members of the legislature must decide whether to accept all, some or none of its recommendations.

In addition to the call for six new districts that reflect areas of rapid population growth, the commission is also seeking adjustments to the boundaries of 72 other districts and changes to the names of 41 ridings.

Of the six newly proposed electoral districts, the commission says four should be located in Burnaby, Langley, Surrey and Vancouver.

It says many ridings across Greater Vancouver continue to grow quickly and are already more than 25 per cent above the quotient that ensures fair representation by population.

Single new electoral districts are also recommended for southern Vancouver Island and in the southern Interior as the commission seeks to balance voter populations in the Langford area, West Kelowna, Kelowna, Lake Country and Vernon.

Census 2021 population statistics were used by the commission to estimate the number of people within an electoral district and provincial Supreme Court Justice Nitya Iyer, who chaired the commission, says the recommendations reflect B.C.'s growth.

“We do not recommend reducing the number of ridings in more sparsely populated areas of the province because doing so would undermine effective representation," Iyer says in a statement.

Based on census data, the commission found British Columbia's electoral quotient is 53,773 and the usual deviation range is between 40,330 and 67,216 people per riding.

Adding the six ridings to create greater balance among districts will have a ripple effect across the province, eventually changing the boundaries of 72 ridings, says the commission report.

The report points to the Kootenay region where two of the four current electoral districts, Columbia River-Revelstoke and Nelson-Creston, are among 11 that fall below the accepted number of residents, while six in other parts of B.C. are higher than the maximum.

The commission recommendations would fix all but five northern districts where populations remain below the electoral quotient, the report says.

However, the commission is not calling for changes to boundaries of the North Coast, Skeena, Stikine, Nechako Lakes and Peace River South ridings or to Peace River North, where the population is just above the accepted lower range.

"Although we carefully examined options for consolidating the current six ridings into five, we are convinced that any such changes would deprive residents of these districts of effective representation," the commission says of the large, remote ridings that include challenging terrain and weather and often poor internet connectivity.

B.C. is required to form an electoral boundary commission after every second provincial general election, in order to ensure boundaries and ridings accurately reflect population shifts.

The latest report closes with a recommendation that six months be added to the 18-month timeline currently allotted for each commission to do its job.

"We believe that a longer legislated timeline for commission work would support a more robust and meaningful consultation process," says the report, which was submitted to the Speaker of the legislature on Monday.

Sixty-three public meetings were held in 44 B.C. communities, while more than 2,000 submissions were received as the 2022 electoral boundaries final report was compiled.

MORE National ARTICLES

Security tightens as Biden set to arrive in Ottawa

Security tightens as Biden set to arrive in Ottawa
In downtown Ottawa Wednesday, about 20 police vehicles circled the area as U.S. flags were strung up near Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's official office and the main street in front of Parliament Hill. Meanwhile, workers were busy installing fences to prepare for the visit.    

Security tightens as Biden set to arrive in Ottawa

Judge awards legal costs to former Vancouver mayor

Judge awards legal costs to former Vancouver mayor
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Wendy Baker's judgment says the defamation claims had "substantial merit," but found Stewart's statements were not malicious and were fair game because the issues were in the public interest and had been widely reported.

Judge awards legal costs to former Vancouver mayor

Ottawa to spend $1.5B on drugs for rare diseases

Ottawa to spend $1.5B on drugs for rare diseases
The federal government says it will spend up to $1.5 billion over the next three years to improve access to drugs used to treat rare diseases. Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos says up to $1.4 billion of that money will be used to help provinces and territories expand coverage of new and existing drugs that treat rare diseases.

Ottawa to spend $1.5B on drugs for rare diseases

Biden visit puts defence spending under microscope

Biden visit puts defence spending under microscope
American presidents have a long history of pushing Canada to spend more on its military, including Barack Obama in a speech to Parliament in 2016. Such pressure has come as Canada consistently lags most of its allies in terms of defence spending as a percentage of its national GDP.

Biden visit puts defence spending under microscope

One man killed in West Vancouver homicide

One man killed in West Vancouver homicide
A statement from West Vancouver police says the male victim was involved in an altercation with an unknown man just before 5 p.m. Tuesday. The statement does not confirm how the victim died.

One man killed in West Vancouver homicide

Suspect charged with mischief after more than 20 panes of glass were intentionally shattered at bus shelters: VPD

Suspect charged with mischief after more than 20 panes of glass were intentionally shattered at bus shelters: VPD
VPD officers responded to Granville and Georgia Street around 1:30 a.m. following reports that a man with a hammer was walking down the street and smashing glass at bus stops. Sergey Kurmanaev was taken to jail and has been charged with one count of mischief over $5,000.

Suspect charged with mischief after more than 20 panes of glass were intentionally shattered at bus shelters: VPD