Big changes proposed for federal ridings

The Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for B.C. has proposed a redistricting that would see a new riding called “Vernon-Lake Country” added to the Thompson-Okanagan region to address population changes in the province.

The “cascade of changes” needed to make that happen would affect both the Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies and Cariboo-Prince George ridings, the commission says.

“We are proposing reconfiguration of Cariboo-Prince George to incorporate a larger part of the Cariboo area from Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo, and to relinquish an area of the City of Prince George to Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies,” the commission wrote in a release of its review.

At roughly 243,276 square kilometres, the Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies riding spans from Valemount in the south to the Yukon in the north, and is one of largest in the country.

There are just under 111,000 residents in the riding, and 80,746 registered voters, according to Elections Canada.

The new maps were crafted by a B.C. Court of Appeal judge and two academics, and include a number of other reconfigurations to ridings across the province, though “Vernon-Lake Country” is the only new electoral district proposed to be created in the province.

“In fashioning this proposal for British Columbians, the commission has attempted to reduce disparities between electoral districts within the regions, influenced by the factors of historical pattern and community of interest and identity, and with voter fairness and effective representation in mind,” the commission said in a statement accompanying the maps. “The result has been a significant reduction in over- and under-representation.”

The proposed boundaries are just that at this point — proposed.

Public hearings on the new ridings are expected to be held in this spring and fall, and MPs will be given the chance to comment in early 2023.

A hearing is scheduled for Prince George on June 22. New boundaries will not be formally established until April 2024 at the earliest.