Commission Chair Tom Melnick, Commissioner Keith Archer and Commissioner Beverley Busson prepare to hear submissions from Prince George residents – photo250News

Prince George, B.C. – The Electoral Boundaries Commission is hearing  from the voters in the North, and so far, the message is that  people like things just as they are.

Visiting  29 communities in the course of four weeks,  Commission Chair Justice Tom Melnick says by and large,  the message that is being  heard so far, is that people are  happy  to have things stay the same.  “These are early days though, and we haven’t visited  too many communities.”  So far, the Commission has made stops in Prince Rupert, Terrace, Smithers, Fort Nelson, Dawson Creek and  Prince George. Tomorrow, the Commission will take its work to Quesnel and Williams Lake before heading into the Southern Interior of the Province.

The North is guaranteed at least 8 seats,  which  is generous when  you consider the population base is so much smaller in this part of B.C.  There is also the challenge of  geography, as  those 8 MLAs have a lot of  ground to cover, so geography  is  a consideration says Commissioner Beverley Busson “That’s one of the things that we have to  balance in the deliberations that we make, to try and ensure that  we don’t  increase the challenges for people not only  to access their MLA but vice versa for their MLA to  be able to  access their constituents.  So it’s one of the things we keep in mind  as we deliberate, that we’re  not causing more hardship as we try  to find that balance  between population and the other interests that we look at.”

The population  in the Northern part of B.C.  is not growing as rapidly as other  areas of the province, Commissioner Keith Archer says  residents  of the North recognize that fact  and understand  the number of seats in this part of B.C. is not likely to be increased “The general  message has been don’t introduce change for the sake of change, if  change is required, there has to be a rationale for it.”

The North  has long  been viewed as the economic engine of B.C. and with multiple natural resource projects  proposed,  it would appear  it will continue to drive the economy  of  this province,  yet, because of the  sparse population, has  just 8 seats,  less than 10% of the  85 seats in the legislature.  Despite that  level  of representation, Commission Chair, Justice Melnick says he  has not  detected  any  sense that the North  feels it is being ignored “In a sense, one  could argue that they are not because of the legislation (which guarantees  at least 8 seats).  ” He says without that guarantee,  if  electoral districts (ridings) were only based on  population, the North might have had only 5 seats .

Commissioner Keith Archer  says there is already a substantial variation in the population  bases of ridings “The average, in British Columbia as a whole, is going to be  somewhere around 54-55 thousand people  per electoral district,  the population in Stikine, is about 20 thousand,  the  population of Skeena, not much more, 22,  or 23 thousand, so someone  from elsewhere in the  Province may say those areas  have fewer than half as many people so the value of those votes  is greater than the value of our votes  and that’s the balancing Bev was referring to when she talked about the role of the Commission. Population is  part of it,  geography is part of it,  natural boundaries are part of it, history is part of it, and so the role of the Commission is to take a variety of factors into account.”

Is there any particular area of the Province which might see a change  “It’s too early to say” says Chair Justice Melnick, Commissioner Busson adds, “We have to keep an open mind, listen to the folks and look at the data.”