Some cities are more concerned about new federal ridings than others
Vernon was the big winner as proposed new federal ridings were redrawn again last month.
The Okanagan is slated to get one additional riding under boundary redrawing, which takes place every 10 years, but a previous draft of proposed new ridings had split Greater Vernon into two, with a part of the city being combined with downtown Kelowna in a riding called Vernon-Lake Country.
The riding didn’t get a lot of support in either Vernon or Kelowna.
New proposals last month have done away with Vernon-Lake Country. Greater Vernon is now all together in a riding called Vernon-Monashee.
Similar to the existing ridings, Kelowna will have two ridings under the new proposals — one called Kelowna and a second that combines parts of the city with West Kelowna in a riding now dubbed Okanagan Lake West— South Kelowna.
Vernon Mayor Victor Cumming, council and the chamber of commerce there made presentations at every opportunity to keep the greater Vernon area in one riding.
“The city was quite clear that keeping the city together with Coldstream, areas B and C is just really critical,” Cumming said. “That was our key focus.”
The areas share many government services, including water, recreation and cultural services, as well as have a commercial bond, he said.
Being combined with Kelowna didn’t bother Cumming, “it was the slice-up of the Vernon area which was a concern to us.
“For us, this is the improvement we were requesting.”
The new Vernon-Monashee riding puts Greater Vernon and Lake Country into the same riding. Lake Country now shares a federal riding with Kelowna. Other areas of the North Okanagan and Shuswap, which are now lumped in with Vernon, will move to the Kamloops-Shuswap-Central Rockies riding, under the proposals.
Lake Country Mayor Blair Ireland said he isn’t concerned about being grouped in with Vernon rather than Kelowna, but the new boundaries do create other potential problems.
Most importantly, Ireland was worried some portions of the municipality on the eastern side may have been hived off into neighbouring ridings.
The mapping in unclear, he said. According to written information on the federal redistribution website, all of Lake Country is supposed to be in the VernonMonashee riding and the maps appear to generally follow municipal borders, but a closer inspection seems to be needed.
A spokesperson for the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for B.C. was not available before deadline to address the mayor’s
concerns.
Ireland he’ll be in touch with MPs Tracy Gray and Mel Arnold. The redistribution process is now at a stage called “MPs objections.”
Being grouped with Vernon rather than Kelowna might give Lake Country a stronger voice, said Ireland. “We’re a bigger fish in a smaller pond.”
Last week, Ireland appeared before Vernon council to tout the many links and common issues the two communities share, including water, wildfire protection and highway safety. “A lot of your water doesn’t come from us but it comes through us,” Ireland told
Vernon councillors.
The two communities need to work together, he said.
Ireland also had a complaint about the riding name.
“We’re not in the Monashees,” he told The Daily Courier on Friday. Vernon-Monashee is also the name of a provincial riding.
Ireland said leaving Lake Country out of the riding name was “insulting.”
“We’re not little anymore,” he said, citing its population of 17,000.
It appears neither Kelowna nor West Kelowna are as concerned about federal riding boundaries.
Through a spokesperson, West
Kelowna Mayor Gord Milsom said he hadn’t reviewed the new boundaries yet, but as long as MP Dan Albas was available, Milsom said he wasn’t too concerned.
The matter hasn’t come up at Kelowna council, so City Hall had no comment.
Similar to Vernon, Penticton had been divided up in the earlier boundary redrawing, but was put back together in the latest proposals. However, the proposed new Similkameen-West Kootenay riding has sparked objections in the Kootenays.
The final riding boundaries will be set in the fall.