Kelowna not saying much about move to Vernon riding

The Daily Courier last week included a 24page insert outlining Elections Canada’s proposed new federal electoral boundaries in British Columbia.

As usual, no one is totally happy. Which is about as much as you can hope for these days. Looking to our southern neighbour shows just how corrupted electoral boundaries can be when politicians call the shots.

However, Elections Canada has decided that downtown Kelowna (which is constantly sprouting new multi-storey highrises) should be part of the Vernon and Lake Country electorate.

I can’t believe how little I’ve heard from Kelowna’s local politicians, business leaders and academics about the proposed boundaries of the Vernon-Lake Country electoral district.

The core of Kelowna, it’s very heart, will always be the city centre and the lakefront.

Only an “obliviot” would think it’s OK to pretend the voters and businesses there are just like the folks in Vernon and can be tossed like a salad to balance the math.

This is ridiculous. It’s beyond time that politicians and civil servants accepted the fact that Kelowna will always be the dominant city in the Southern Interior and its political representation needs to be local.

Good luck to any Kelowna residents who have serious issues with a federal government decision when their MP has a Vernon mindset and address. Nothing wrong with that, but the city core of Kelowna has little in common with small town and rural B.C.

I know it’s tough to draw relatively equal ridings but that’s the job and it usually works out. One logical idea to me is to make two ridings out of the Central Okanagan regional district. If they’re a little short on voters, pull in Summerland. I can’t imagine anyone down there minding, As if.

Graham Stevens, West Kelowna