‘It’s disturbing’: Rural ridings in jeopardy under new proposed bill by N.D.P.

May 17, 2021 | 4:11 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – It’s a normal process that happens after every two provincial elections in BC, re-evaluating ridings by the B.C. Electoral Boundaries Commission.

This time though, it is not business as normal thanks to a bill proposed to the B.C. Electoral Boundaries Commission Act by Attorney General David Eby and the B.C. N.D.P. according to political experts and local M.L.A. John Rustad.

Rustad, M.L.A. for Nechako Lakes called the proposed changes ‘disturbing’, noting this gives the commission power to add ridings in urban centres while taking away ridings in rural areas.

Chris Beach, Political Science Instructor at C.N.C. says the proposed bill could put any rural provincial riding in jeopardy.

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The new bill aims to designate ridings purely based on population while eliminating protection for 17 ridings in the province which were based on geographical needs.

Those protections were put in place under the BC Liberal party, now the N.D.P. could eliminate ridings, and in doing so could eliminate ridings that were considered Liberal strongholds.

A ministry spokesperson told CKPG News the new bill does give the BC Electoral Boundaries Commission the option to give special exceptions to some ridings, and no such recommendations have come forward as of yet.

The province alleges the current rules around ridings made BC an outlier, as most other provinces do not have these kinds of regions noting those that do have regions offer fewer restrictions on seats than B.C.

The spokesperson noted the goal is to achieve fair and effective representation for the entire province.

by Caden Fanshaw

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‘It’s disturbing’: Rural ridings in jeopardy under new proposed bill by N.D.P.

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