This federal election will see recent changes to Island riding boundaries kick in, affecting voters in three different ridings.
It’s resulted in some strange new divisions. For example, the Woodgrove Mall and Costco in Nanaimo are now part of the Courtenay-Alberni riding, with the new north-south boundary set along Hammond Bay Road. Students who live west of Rutherford Elementary school are now in that riding as well, but their school remains in Nanaimo-Ladysmith, with Sealand Road set as the east-west boundary.
Farther north, residents on the eastern side of the Courtenay River have been added to North Island-Powell River, joining their neighbours along Ryan Road and in Comox, who were added in 2002. The northern boundary between Courtenay-Alberni and North Island-Powell River now follows the Courtenay and Puntledge Rivers. Powell River was added to the riding in the last amendment in 2012.
Boundaries are revisited every 10 years to make sure ridings have roughly the same population. However, population growth on the central Island since the last revision has led to some changes the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for British Columbia admitted would be “disruptive” when approving them in 2023.
In its decision, the commission said the changes were prompted because the Nanaimo-Ladysmith riding has seen high population growth in the last decade, becoming the most populous on Vancouver Island.
The commission used geographical boundaries to justify its decision.
“Geography allows only two solutions: moving the southern boundary northward, so as to assign residents in Nanaimo—Ladysmith to Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, or moving the northern boundary southward to assign residents in Nanaimo—Ladysmith to current Courtenay—Alberni,” reads the report. “The southern-boundary alternative would have a domino effect around the Malahat area more disruptive than the northern-boundary alternative.
“The Commission appreciated that this proposed change would be controversial, and so it has been.”
Elections Canada has a target of 116,300 people per riding. Thanks to population growth in recent years, Vancouver Island’s seven ridings are the most populous in BC, with an average of 123,052 people per riding.
You can read the full report here.
- North Island-Powell River riding info and maps
- Courtenay-Alberni riding info and maps
- Nanaimo-Ladysmith riding info and maps
