British Columbia's six new seats in the House of Commons will likely be found east of Vancouver, on both sides of the Fraser River.
The province's federal boundary commission has recommended five new seats on the Lower Mainland, and on Vancouver Island. Their report was officially tabled today in the House of Commons.
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
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.
Only three ridings emerge unchanged: 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.
More than 350 presentations were heard during public hearings, along with more than 600 written submissions.
THE PROCESS
Independent commissions were established in each province to consider the electoral map based on the 2011 census. Thirty new ridings are also being created in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, and Alberta.
Commissioners, appointed by each province's chief justice and the Speaker of the House of Commons, consider geography, history, and population in crafting their proposed boundary changes. Public hearings followed, along with future study by a parliamentary committee for any comments and objections.
From the Manitoba commission report: "MPs will have a further opportunity to offer suggestions on the map within a committee of the House of Commons, but the final decision rests with the Commission."
The final map is provided to the Chief Electoral Officer. The three territories will continue to hold one seat each.
THE LEGISLATION
The formula for determining seats has been adjusted several times since Confederation. Notably, no province can have fewer MPs than Senators, and no province can have fewer seats than they had in 1976.
The opposition NDP proposed their own bill to ensure that Quebec's proportion would remain at the same level (24.35 per cent) as 2006, when the Québécois nation resolution passed. Under Bill C-20, Quebec's proportion of seats falls to 23.08 per cent of the House of Commons.
The Liberals, meanwhile, were worried about the transparency of the electoral commissions and how individuals would be appointed. They opposed both the Conservative and NDP bills, calling for a rebalance of the Commons without any additional seats.
-Andrew Thomson
BRITISH COLUMBIA ** ALBERTA ** SASKATCHEWAN ** MANITOBA **
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