Cranbrook residents met at the Prestige today to voice concerns and give feedback to the BC Electoral Boundaries Commission.
The goal of the commission is to review the current electoral boundaries.
“Every second provincial election a commission is created to review the electoral boundaries of the electoral districts in the province,” said Justice Nitya Iyer, the commission chair.
“Right now there are 87. The act lets us add up to six more, which would bring the total to 93.”
Former MLA Bill Bennett was in attendance and said it’s important rural communities have their voices heard.
“When I was the MLA for 16 years, frankly what I saw was a loss in political power in rural British Columbia. There are more and more urban MLAs and fewer and fewer rural MLAs.”
The commission doesn’t just look at population but also geography, demographics, means of communication and transportation, the protection of communities of interest and special circumstances in developing its proposals.
“Resource extraction, the parks, the resorts, so much of our economy comes from rural BC and the decisions that are made about those resources are made by people who don’t live here,” added Bennett.
“I think the electoral boundaries commissions is an extremely important thing to be happening here in B.C. and I wish more people were getting involved in it.”
For more information on the commission and how you can share your thoughts visit the commission website.
MORE: Electoral Boundaries Commission bound for East Kootenay (April 1, 2022)