Premier Campbell Throws Out Electoral Boundaries Recommendations

By 250 News

Premier Gordon Campbell is moving quickly to protect the seats that the Electoral Commission had proposed be scrapped under a new boundary.

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.

The province will act quickly on the matter . Here is a copy of the letter written to the speaker by Premier Campbell

Honourable Bill Barisoff

I am writing to advise you of the Province’s intention to introduce legislative amendments to the Electoral Boundaries Commission Act, in the upcoming Fall sitting of the Legislature. I ask you to share this with the Electoral Boundaries Commission. The attached news release explaining the proposed changes will be issued tomorrow, along with this letter, to ensure that all British Columbians are aware of thegovernment’s intention and rationale as the Commission continues its work.

The legislative changes will be aimed at providing the Commission new legal tools, direction and flexibility to better balance the need for effective representation with the constitutional imperative for relative voter parity. The intent is to ensure that none of the 12 regions identified in the Commission’s preliminary report will have its existing level of representation reduced under the new electoral map, and that growing population centers also gain the representation to which they are entitled. 

As you know, the Commission’s preliminary report identifies three regions (the North, the Cariboo-Thompson and Columbia-Kootenay) that would each lose one representative under the proposed new map. As the Commission noted, this flows from its interpretation of what the Legislature intended by the Electoral Boundaries Commission Act, particularly in regard to the provision [Section 9 (1) (c)] that permits it to "exceed the 25 per cent deviation principle where it considers that very special circumstances exist." To quote the Commission:

"Our interpretation of our mandate leads us to conclude that no region of the province has an automatic entitlement to ’very special circumstances’ status for some or all of its electoral districts.

Neither do we believe that it would be appropriate for us to begin with a presumption that each region of the province should be guaranteed its current level of representation. The Legislative Assembly could have made that our mandate - but it did not. Rather, we are governed by the overriding constitutional and legal requirement to strive for relative parity of voting power among electoral districts, and to deviate from parity only to the extent necessary to ensure effective representation."

[Preliminary Report, pg. 44]

With respect to the Commission, the Province had hoped that the legislation would provide sufficient leeway to not only protect existing levels of regional representation, but also allow for greater parity of voting power through the allocation of up to six additional seats. The government did not specifically identify the regions, as that would have entailed drawing boundaries which were properly the Commission’s to identify. 

 It was never my government’s intention, nor I dare say the Legislature’s intention, to reduce existing levels of regional representation that are already challenged to ensure rural British Columbians have fair access to effective representation. Indeed, I had thought that the Attorney General made that point clear during debate on the Electoral Boundaries Commission Amendment Act in the Fall of 2005.

In his First Reading remarks on October 24, 2005, the Attorney General

specifically noted the bill’s "intent of protecting northern representation in the Legislature" -- a theme he repeated in his Second Reading comments. During Committee Stage debate on November 15, 2005, the Attorney General was also asked by MLA Blair Lekstrom (Peace River South) if "there is some latitude in [the bill] that would allow the protection of northern and rural ridings." The Attorney General responded as follows: "I want to assure the Honourable Member that there is a clear intent on the part of the government to protect northern representation in the Legislature. The bill gives the commission the necessary flexibility to make those recommendations in order to ensure that northern ridings and northern representation will be protected in the Legislature."

Yet, I can well understand the Commission’s interpretation and reasoning in the absence of further legal clarity and direction. As such, the government believes that statutory changes are necessary to empower and direct the Commission to adequately respond to rural British Columbians’ unequivocal desire to protect their regional representation. In the absence of new statutory direction, the Commission might not have the legal latitude or direction it needs to fundamentally remedy the regional impacts of its preliminary proposed new electoral map. Members of both parties currently represented in the Legislature have already publicly indicated that the loss of regional voices in the three regions at issue is unacceptable to them. Without substantive changes to better protect rural representation and improve representation by population, the final report will almost certainly be doomed to defeat in the Legislature.

Therefore, my government will be recommending amendments early in the upcoming legislative Session to help the Commission complete its work with new guidance from the Legislature. Now that the Commission has identified 12 regions for its purposes, the Legislature is in a better position to clarify its intent.

The legislation will specifically require that no region will see its current level of representation reduced. If passed by the Legislature, the amended Act will essentially direct the Commission to add back the three seats to the three regions affected. The North region would be guaranteed its existing eight seats, the Cariboo-Thompson would be guaranteed its existing five seats, and the Columbia-Kootenay would be guaranteed its existing four seats. As well, the Commission will be specifically required to further allocate an additional five seats to help achieve greater population-based parity in voting power. Together, these additional eight seats will result in a total of 87 electoral districts, up from the current 79.

Although an additional eight seats may not be quite enough to perfectly provide for parity of voting power and effective representation, they should give the Commission room to better achieve those ends without a massive increase to the size of the Legislative Assembly. This will obviously also oblige the Commission to revisit its proposed BC-STV electoral districts, to similarly allocate the 87 seats as it sees fit.

I recognize that the Commission may feel that more time might be required to complete its work if this new direction is endorsed by the Legislature. The Government stands ready to accommodate such an extension, provided the final report can still be completed in time for debate and ratification by the Legislature, to ensure its scheduled implementation in the next General Election.

Sincerely,

Gordon Campbell

Premier

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