New Legal Tools to Protect Rural Representation

The Province will provide new legal tools to the British Columbia Electoral Boundaries Commission to protect the number of electoral districts in rural British Columbia while ensuring fair representation in growing regions of the province.

September 13, 2007

Victoria – The Province will provide new legal tools to the British Columbia Electoral Boundaries Commission to protect the number of electoral districts in rural British Columbia while ensuring fair representation in growing regions of the province.

“Since the commission released its initial report on Aug. 15, 2007, we have heard clearly from British Columbians that reducing rural British Columbians’ representation in government is unacceptable,” said Premier Gordon Campbell. “We are committed to protecting the number of electoral districts in rural British Columbia. At the same time, the commission clearly identified growing regions of the province where more representation is needed. We will set broader guidelines under the Electoral Boundaries Commission Act to give the commission the flexibility necessary to adjust electoral boundaries and ensure fair and equal representation for all regions of the province.”

Under the existing act, the commission is ‘permitted to deviate from the provincial electoral quotient by no more than plus or minus 25 per cent (population),’ and only ‘permitted to propose electoral districts with deviations exceeding plus or minus 25 per cent where we consider that very special circumstances exist.’ As a result, the commission has a legal and constitutional obligation to propose electoral districts that come as close as possible to the provincial electoral quotient which is calculated by the total provincial population divided by the number of electoral districts.

In its preliminary report, the Commission identified 12 provincial regions: The North; Cariboo-Thompson; Okanagan; Columbia-Kootenay; Fraser Valley; Tri-Cities; Surrey; Richmond and Delta; Burnaby and New Westminster; Vancouver; North Shore; and Vancouver Island and South Coast. While the preliminary report increased the number of electoral districts from 79 to 81, the North, Cariboo-Thompson and Columbia-Kootenay would each be reduced by one seat.

The government intends to introduce legislation this fall that will give the commission the legal tools required to protect rural representation. The legislation will establish special designations for the North, Cariboo-Thompson and Columbia-Kootenay using the boundaries already established by the commission after their first round of hearings. At the same time, the commission will be given the legal requirement to increase the number of seats in growing regions of the province by five. The government wants rural and remote residents of the province to have a clear and representative voice in their legislature while ensuring that there is balance for more heavily populated areas.

“We were hopeful that the commission would be able to maintain the number of electoral districts in rural British Columbia within the original mandate that allowed them to increase the number of districts by up to six,” said Campbell. “The commission clearly identified challenges they faced in keeping districts within the provincial electoral quotient of no more than plus or minus 25 per cent, so we are giving them the legal tools to maintain the current number of representatives in the three regions of the North, Cariboo-Thompson and Columbia-Kootenay with this special designation.”

The legislation will give the commission the legal ability to carry on its work to recommend new electoral boundaries. Based on the 12 regions identified in the preliminary report, the commission will be required to ensure no region loses any existing seats. As such, the legislation will protect representation in the three regions where their draft proposal had suggested reducing the number of MLAs. The commission will also be directed to allocate an additional five seats to reflect population growth. Increasing the number of MLAs in total by eight will allow the commission to strike a balance between protecting rural representation and increasing representation for growing areas. As a result, the next Parliament will have 87 Members. The Commission will be asked to address single transferable vote (STV) allocations and boundaries for all 87 Members of the Legislative Assembly as well.

“We commend the commission for the work they have done so far and we look forward to their final report,” said Campbell. “We will seek the commission’s input on whether they require additional time to complete their public consultations. If that is required appropriate legislative adjustments will be made to accommodate them.”