An electoral redistribution in British Columbia is underway by the BC Electoral Boundaries Commission. On October 21, 2021, the Government of British Columbia appointed Justice Nitya Iyer, Linda Tynan and Chief Electoral Officer Anton Boegman to serve as the 2021 commissioners. Justice Iyer was appointed the chair.[1]

The commission is required to complete redistricting every two election cycles.[2] The final number of provincial electoral districts, and thus seats in the next legislature, will not be known until redistricting has occurred.[2] The commission is required to complete its preliminary report by October 21, 2022, and its final report six months later.[1]

In May 2021, the government introduced legislation that removed a requirement that no reduction of seats could be considered for certain rural regions.[3] Attorney General David Eby said the changes were necessary to ensure the commission was independent and had the flexibility to recommend boundaries that provide effective representation.[3][4] The legislation also permits the legislature to grow to up to 93 seats.[5]

In February 2022, the commission opened public consultations for the redistribution.[6][7] Public hearings were scheduled and public submissions were open until May 31, 2022.[7] Following the release of its initial report in October 2022, further consultations occurred.[6] Its final report was released in April 2023.[8]

Initial report

The initial report, published on October 3, 2022, proposed a total of 93 electoral districts, up from 87 districts.[9] Six new ridings were proposed for areas with rapid population growth, with an additional 71 ridings having their boundaries adjusted to accommodate for geographic, demographic, and other concerns.[10]

Burnaby–New Westminster–Tri-Cities

An additional district, Burnaby Centre, was proposed for the Burnaby–New Westminster–Tri-Cities area.

New Westminster was found to have a population too large for a single riding but too small for two ridings.[9] The initial report split the city into 5 ridings, sharing 2 electoral districts with Burnaby and 1 electoral district with Richmond.[11]

  • Burnaby Centre, new riding
  • Burnaby East, lost Eastburn
  • Burnaby-New Westminster gained portions of New Westminster from New Westminster-Maillardville
  • Burnaby North, lost portions north of Highway 1 to Burnaby Centre
  • Burnaby South, redrawn to include the SkyTrain corridor in a single riding
  • Coquitlam-Burke Mountain, lost Westwood Plateau to Port Moody-Westwood Plateau
  • Coquitlam-Mundy Park, previously named Coquitlam-Maillardville, gained the Kwikwetlem First Nation from Port Coquitlam to ensure both Kwiketlem reserves are in the same electoral district, lost Maillardville to New Westminster-Maillardville
  • New Westminster-Maillardville, previously named New Westminster, lost portions to Burnaby-New Westminster, gained Maillardville from Coquitlam-Maillardville
  • Port Coquitlam, lost the Kwikwetlem First Nation to Coquitlam-Mundy Park to ensure both Kwiketlem reserves are in the same electoral district
  • Port Moody-Westwood Plateau, mostly consists of the existing Port Moody-Coquitlam

Fraser Valley–Langley–Maple Ridge

The Fraser Valley–Langley–Maple Ridge area gained an additional electoral district, Langley-Willoughby.[9]

  • Abbotsford-Mission, lost portions of Abbotsford, gained portions of Mission
  • Abbotsford South, lost portions west of Bradner Road to Langley-Aldergrove
  • Abbotsford West, lost portions west of Bradner Road and north of the Trans-Canada highway to Langley-Aldergrove
  • Chilliwack-Cultus Lake, renamed and consists mostly of portions of Chilliwack-Kent south of the Fraser River, lost District of Kent and Harrison Hot Springs to Fraser-Nicola
  • Chilliwack North, reorganized from Chilliwack, gained communities north of the Fraser River around Harrison Lake from Chiliwack-Cultus Lake
  • Langley-Aldergrove, previously named Langley East, gained Aldergrove
  • Langley-Murrayville, previously named Langley, gained Murrayville
  • Langley-Willoughby, new riding created from portions of Langley and Langley East
  • Maple Ridge East, previously named Maple Ridge-Mission, lost portions of Mission to Abbotsford-Mission.
  • Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows, lost Yennadon to Maple Ridge East

Interior BC

Interior BC gained an additional electoral district, Kelowna-Centre.[9]

  • Kelowna Centre, new riding made mostly from Kelowna West
  • Kelowna-Lake Country boundary extended northwards
  • Kamloops-Mission, portions moved into Kelowna Centre
  • West Kelowna-Peachland, previously named Kelowna West, lost downtown Kelowna to Kelowna Centre, redrawn to include portions of the District of Peachland
  • Boundary-Similkameen, lost Christina Lake to Kootenay West
  • Fraser-Nicola, gained District of Kent and Harrison Hot Springs
  • Kamloops Centre, portions transferred to Fraser-Nicola and Kamloops-North Shuswap
  • Kamloops-North Shuswap, gained North Shuswap, lost portions of downtown Kamloops to Kamloops Centre
  • Penticton-Summerland, lost Peachland to West Kelowna-Peachland
  • Salmon Arm-Shuswap, lost North Shuswap Lake and Seymour Arm to Kamloops-North Shuswap
  • Vernon-Monashee, lost Beachcomber Bay, East Bella Vista Highlands, and Okanagan Lake to Kelowna-Lake Country

Kootenays

The commission initially considered reducing the number of ridings in the region from 4 to 3, but ultimately decided against it, citing effective representation.[9]

  • Columbia River-Revelstoke, gained Cranbrook's western outskirts
  • Kootenay Central, previously named Nelson-Creston, gained Christina Lake, lost Nakusp, New Denver, and Silverton from Kootenay West
  • Kootenay East, portions of Cranbrook lost to Columbia River-Revelstoke
  • Kootenay West, gained Christina Lake, lost Nakusp, New Denver, and Silverton to Kootenay Central

Northern BC

The commission initially considered merging the two Peace River ridings, as well as North Coast with Skeena, but ultimately decided not to in consideration of the great size of the ridings. Minor changes were made to the water boundaries of the ridings.[9]

North Shore–Sea to Sky–Sunshine Coast

No new districts were added to the region. Four of five districts had their boundaries adjusted.[9]

Prince George and the Cariboo

The two Cariboo ridings were considered for merging, but adjustments to the ridings were ultimately chosen as the solution to bring each riding into the deviation. All four ridings were ultimately redrawn as a result. There was consideration of bringing the Bella Coola valley into Cariboo-North Thompson, but this was ultimately scrapped as the North Coast riding's population was already below deviation.[9]

Richmond–Delta

Discussions on whether Queensborough should be transferred to a New Westminster riding gave no concerns regarding representation; only minor changes were proposed to the Richmond–Delta area.[9]

  • Delta North, lost portions south of 64th Avenue to Delta South
  • Delta South, gained portions south of 64th Avenue from Delta North
  • Richmond-Bridgeport, previously named Richmond North Centre, lost Bridgeport and neighbourhoods east of No. 2 Road and south of Westminster Highway
  • Richmond Centre, previously named Richmond South Centre, lost areas south of Blundell and west of Gilbert into Richmond-Steveston
  • Richmond-Queensborough, lost Bridgeport to Richmond-Bridgeport
  • Richmond-Steveston, gained areas south of Blundell and west of Gilbert from Richmond-Centre

Surrey

Surrey gained an additional electoral district.[9]

  • Surrey Central, new electoral district, created from portions of Surrey-Newton, Surrey-Panorama, and Surrey-Cloverdale
  • Surrey City Centre, new electoral district, mostly contains portions of Surrey-Whalley
  • Surrey East, previously named Surrey-Cloverdale, gained portions of Cloverdale from Surrey South
  • Surrey-Fleetwood, adjustments made to the southern and eastern boundaries
  • Surrey-Guildford, adjustments made to the southern boundary
  • Surrey-Newton, adjusted to include portions of Surrey-Green Timbers and Surrey-Newton
  • Surrey North, created from portions of Surrey-Whalley and Surrey-Green Timbers, lost downtown Surrey to Surrey City Centre, gained portions of Newton
  • Surrey-Panorama, portions transferred to Surrey South
  • Surrey South, gained portions from Surrey Panorama, lost portions of Cloverdale to Surrey-Cloverdale
  • Surrey-White Rock, no changes

Vancouver

Vancouver gained an additional electoral district, Vancouver-South Granville.

Name changes were proposed due to concerns raised about the distinct identities of Vancouver's neighbourhoods, and the commission's boundaries reflect these suggestions. 5 ridings had their names changed as a result.[9]

Vancouver Island

Vancouver Island gained an additional electoral district, Langford-Highlands.[9]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Electoral Boundaries Commission members appointed". news.gov.bc.ca. Ministry of Attorney General. October 21, 2021. Retrieved December 13, 2021.
  2. 1 2 "Electoral Boundaries Commission". elections.bc.ca. Elections BC. 2021. Retrieved December 13, 2021.
  3. 1 2 McElroy, Justin (May 11, 2021). "B.C. to add up to 6 new MLAs next election — but seats could be reduced in the Interior". CBC News. Retrieved December 13, 2021.
  4. ↑ Pilon, Dennis (May 28, 2021). "Making B.C. electoral boundaries commissions more independent". The Georgia Straight. Retrieved December 13, 2021.
  5. ↑ Follett Hosgood, Amanda (May 27, 2021). "BC Is Changing Electoral Boundaries Again. Who Will Benefit?". The Tyee. Retrieved December 13, 2021.
  6. 1 2 Preprost, Matt (February 22, 2022). "Electoral boundaries survey now open". Alaska Highway News. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
  7. 1 2 BC Electoral Boundaries Commission (2022). "Your Voice". British Columbia Electoral Boundaries Commission. Retrieved December 13, 2021.
  8. ↑ https://bcebc.ca/final-report/
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Iyer, Nitya; Tynan, Linda; Boegman, Anton (3 October 2022). Preliminary Report (PDF). British Columbia Electoral Boundaries Commission. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  10. ↑ "6 new ridings proposed by B.C. Electoral Boundaries Commission". CTV News British Columbia. The Canadian Press. 4 October 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  11. ↑ McManus, Theresa. "New West to be split into five provincial ridings under new proposal". New West Record. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.