B.C.’s Electoral Boundaries Commission (EBC) has stuck to its proposal to slightly adjust Kootenay East and Columbia River Revelstoke.
The draft also suggests renaming Kootenay East, the riding that encompasses Cranbrook, the South Country and the Elk Valley, to Kootenay-Rockies.
The only substation boundary change is focused just outside of Cranbrook.
“We adjust the boundary between Kootenay-Rockies and Columbia River-Revelstoke ridings by moving the western outskirts of Cranbrook into Columbia River-Revelstoke,” said EBC officials. “This balances the populations between these neighbouring electoral districts, and the boundary follows municipal borders.”
Officials with the Electoral Boundaries Commission said they explored a few options before they settled on their choice.
“While we explored moving Revelstoke and Golden from Columbia River-Revelstoke into the electoral district of Salmon Arm-Shuswap, we do not propose this change because of the challenge posed by the limited transportation options and the mountain pass between these communities,” said the EBC.
This move was put forward to help balance out population numbers between B.C.’s ridings.
The decision was made with the help of feedback from the public.
“Following our mandate, we first considered whether it made sense to propose reducing the number of ridings,” said the EBC. “It quickly became clear that fewer ridings would create even greater barriers to effective representation. In addition to the challenging transportation routes, some of which require ferry travel, the area faces severe seasonal weather.”
Final approval must come from B.C.’s legislature before the proposed changes fully come into effect for the next provincial election, however.
You can view the full draft report below.
More: Electoral Boundaries Commission’s final recommendations for B.C.’s provincial electoral districts
