No Change for North Coast Riding borders, but name change proposed from Electoral Boundaries Commission Final Report

British Columbia's Electoral Boundaries Commission has released its final report on proposed changes to the Legislature seating plan, with a recommendation for six new ridings, all in the large population areas of the province.

The new ridings if approved by the Legislature would see new MLA's in newly created ridings for the communities of Langford, Burnaby, Langley, Surrey, Vancouver and Kelowna.

That would increase the number of MLA's in the Legislature to 93 members, which would make the mark of a seats required to form a majority government at 47.

Other recommendations provide for some tweaks to existing borders and the names for some, though the North with its smaller population did not see any changes towards the boundaries, while two name changes have been recommended.

The section of the report related to the North outlines the challenges for the Electoral Boundaries Commission, with only one of the six ridings (Peace River North) at the usual deviation range.

The other five are below the lower limits and were up for consideration for consolidation, however the advocacy that the Commission received for the Northern ridings towards the need for representation,  swayed their recommendations to remain with the current listings, but with a pair of name changes.

If approved, North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice will be adding Haida Gwaii to the Stationary, while MLA Nathan Cullen will be including Stikine in all his talking points references. 

The two MLA's will also host represent the two largest by area constituencies in the Northwest region, with Mr. Cullen's riding taking in 196,484 square kilometres, Ms. Rice's geographical reach takes in 120,664 square kilometres.

The Commission's review of the North can be explored from pages 69 to  80 from the report available here.

With the delivery of the final report, the process is now turned over the Legislative Assembly to determine whether to accept all, some or none of the recommendations that have been provided.

More Notes from the Legislature can be explored from our archive page.