When Canadians go to the polls in the federal election that has been called for April 28, residents of this region will be casting their votes in a new riding.
As of March 23, when the writ for the election was dropped, new federal riding boundaries came into effect across the country. Until that date, Lytton, Lillooet, Spences Bridge, Ashcroft, and Cache Creek were part of the Mission-Matsqui-Fraser Canyon riding; Clinton, Barriere, and Clearwater were part of the Kamloops-Thompson Cariboo riding; and Logan Lake and Merritt were part of the Okanagan-Similkameen-Merritt riding.
Now all of these communities are part of the new Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola riding. The western boundary of the riding runs from Lytton to just south of 100 Mile House, which will now be part of the Cariboo-Prince George riding; it was part of Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo. On its eastern side, the riding runs from Merritt and Logan Lake up the North Thompson Valley to just south of Valemount. The western half of the City of Kamloops is also included.
A report released in February 2023 by the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission outlined recommended changes to B.C.’s federal ridings, which included increasing the number from 42 to 43. The three B.C. commissioners — Madam Justice Mary Saunders (chair), Dr. R. Kenneth Carty, and Mr. Stewart Ladyman — spent several months holding public hearings throughout B.C., in-person and virtually, which were attended by nearly 500 people and contained more than 200 presentations from interested parties. They also received and read nearly 1,000 written submissions.
At a public hearing in Kamloops in June 2022, Saunders noted that boundary reviews are carried out across the country every 10 years, in order to ensure that population distribution is as equitable as possible. She added that based on the 2021 Census of Canada results, an additional riding was being added to B.C., and that after reviewing the numbers, the decision was made to add it to the Southern Interior.
The commissioners recommended that the City of Kamloops be divided in two, with each part joining an extended community of smaller populations adjacent to it. It means that the city is now split between two ridings — Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola and Kamloops-Shuswap-Central Rockies — with the boundary running through the heart of downtown Kamloops. The area to the west of 6th Avenue, the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc Reserve, and North Kamloops will be in Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola, while most areas of Kamloops to the east of 6th Avenue will be in Kamloops-Shuswap-Central Rockies, which extends east to the B.C./Alberta border.
The changes recommended by the Electoral Boundaries Commission will take the number of federal ridings in Canada to 343, up from the current 338. In addition to the one additional riding in B.C., three new ridings were added in Alberta, and one new riding was added in Ontario.
To read the report and see all the changes to B.C.’s federal ridings, go to http://bit.ly/3YJQ8fB.
