The procedure and house affairs affairs committee has passed along suggestions and objections from British Columbia MPs to the province's federal boundary commission.
The committee report chose to actively support some objections, while merely passing on the others for the commission’s consideration.
The commission's final report recommended five new seats on the Lower Mainland, and on Vancouver Island.
The new riding configurations include:
- Burnaby South
- Delta
- Fort Langley-Aldergrove
- Mission-Matsqui-Fraser Canyon
- Saanich-Juan de Fuca
- Vancouver Granville
The half-dozen additional constituencies will give the province 42 MPs in the House of Commons.
MAP: British Columbia
Only three ridings emerge unchanged under the commission's final plan: Vancouver East, Victoria, and Okanagan-Shuswap -- to be renamed North Okanagan-Shuswap.
Large geographic ridings would remain in the north; namely, Skeena--Bulkley Valley, Prince George--Peace River, and Cariboo--Prince George. Other ridings will see major changes to their boundaries.
Nearly all of Vancouver's ridings faced readjustment with the addition of Vancouver Granville.
Map: Vancouver
Map: Victoria
Powell River would be added to Vancouver Island North, creating Vancouver Island North-Comox-Powell River. Nanaimo would be concentrated within a single district (Nanaimo-Ladysmith). The province's interior does not gain any additional seats, but many ridings have been reconfigured -- including the newly-named and mapped South Okanagan-West Kootenay.
The committee's report includes the following objections:
►Vancouver/Lower Mainland
Kennedy Stewart (Burnaby--Douglas) and Peter Julian (Burnaby--New Westminster) raised their objections to Burnaby North--Seymour, a riding concept that was ultimately rejected 10 years ago. They want a new riding called Port Moody--Burquitlam, citing community reaction and precedent.
Said Stewart at committee: "The turmoil within the community has been ongoing since the new maps came out. I'm trying to present that information. It wasn't a one-off blip. This is a community that's going to be permanently angry. Both sides of the inlet are going to be angry about this."
The committee passed along their plan, along with a dissenting opinion from Heritage Minister James Moore, MP for Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam.
Kerry-Lynne Findlay (Delta—Richmond East), the associate defence minister, wants to alter the boundary of Richmond West and Steveston—Richmond East. However, cabinet colleage Alice Wong (Richmond) filed a different border proposal.
Mark Warawa (Langley) proposed a western shift of Fort—Langley Aldergrove.
Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs - 2013 report on Saskatchewan boundaries
►Vancouver Island/Powell River
John Duncan (Vancouver Island North) doesn't want to see Courtenay and Comox divided on Vancouver Island and doesn't want Powell River added to his riding. Duncan claimed the support of local mayors along with nearby MPs.
James Lunney (Nanaimo--Alberni) supported Duncan's view on Powell River, and would prefer the city of Courtenay left intact within Courtenay--Comox. The two also object to the exclusion of northwest portions of Nanaimo from the proposed Courtenay—Alberni riding.
John Weston (West Vancouver--Sunshine Coast--Sea to Sky) supports the inclusion of Powell River in his riding.
Mark Strahl (Chilliwack--Fraser Canyon) argued that Whistler, Pemberton and SLRD area C are communities of interest and should be added to the proposed Mission-Matsqui-Fraser Canyon riding if Powell River is ultimately kept in a mainland riding.
The committee passed along the group’s proposal for redrawing the boundaries.
►Interior
Alex Atamanenko (British Columbia Southern Interior) and David Wilks (Kootenay--Columbia) both oppose changes to their neighbouring ridings, but presented different boundary plans. Atamanenko said it would be hard to serve both Penticton and rural residents, and does not want the West Kootenays split up. Wilks sought the return of Naksup and New Denver to his riding.
Both plans were forwarded to the commission.
Dan Albas (Okanagan—Coquihalla) wants to re-balance riding populations in the area to ensure “more manageable rural ridings.”
►Name Changes
Randall Garrison (Esquimalt--Juan De Fuca) requested a name change from Saanich-Juan De Fuca to Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke.
Wong wants her riding name maintained instead of “Richmond West.”
Bob Zimmer (Prince George--Peace River) would like his riding to be called Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies.
Mark Warawa (Langley) hoped for his area's ridings should be renamed Langley--Aldergrove and Cloverdale--West Langley.
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The 2011 census marked B.C.'s population at 4.4 million. The three commissioners had to account for population growth between the North Shore and Chilliwack, on Vancouver Island, and in the Okanagan and Kamloops regions.
The average population per riding is now 104,763. Kelowna (22.3%), Chilliwack (21.5%), Vancouver and Abbotsford (14.9% each) were the fastest growing areas from 2001 to 2011, according to the provincial government.
-Andrew Thomson
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