琉璃神社鈥檚 three Liberal MLAs are proposing a new 琉璃神社 Centre Riding and a fourth MLA in time for the next provincial election.

鈥淭he numbers in the Central Okanagan definitely warrant a fourth riding,鈥� said 琉璃神社-Lake Country MLA Norm Letnick. 鈥淚f you look at the goal of B.C. Electoral Boundary Commission (BCEBC) on how many people should roughly be in a riding, we are over that with three ridings.鈥�

Letnick added with a population of more than 225,000 currently and the anticipated growth rate over the next two terms of government, which in the mandate of the BCEBC, an additional MLA in the Central Okanagan is arguably warranted.

鈥淎t the end of the eight years let鈥檚 try to give everyone in the ridings the same access to their MLAs, and try to come up with the same population numbers in each riding.鈥�

Letnick said that with slower growth in the 琉璃神社-Mission riding, compared to Westside-琉璃神社, 琉璃神社-Lake Country, and the new proposed riding, it would need to start with a larger population number.

鈥淭he other three ridings will start with a small number because they鈥檙e growing at a faster rate,鈥� explained Letnick. 鈥淎t the end of the eight years they should be pretty close, and they are. They鈥檙e at about 70,000 to 72,000 people in each of the four ridings.鈥�

The new riding would basically be in the center of 琉璃神社, roughly covering from W.A.C. Bennett Bridge east to Highway 33, and include part of Mission north to near McKinley Landing.

鈥淲est 琉璃神社 would (just) be West 琉璃神社,鈥� added Letnick. 鈥淪o no more downtown, Glenmore, Pandosy area in the West 琉璃神社 riding, it would go to the new riding. A small part of the Mission would go there as well. 琉璃神社-Lake Country, because it abuts the new riding, would take the balance.鈥�

Letnick added that the proposed names for the ridings are 琉璃神社-South, 琉璃神社-Centre, 琉璃神社-North, and West 琉璃神社.

鈥淲e invite feedback from the public or directly to the boundary commission,鈥� said Letnick. 鈥淥ur hope is that we鈥檝e come up with a logical solution and people who present to the boundary commission will be supporting that solution. Or they can present something else. They are certainly not bound by our solution.鈥�

The proposal Letnick and MLAs Renee Merrifield and Ben Stewart have come up with will be going up on their respective Facebook pages. They are also presenting it to 琉璃神社 community leaders and the BCEBC.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 incumbent on us as elected representatives to come up with a solution that we can put out there as a trial balloon for people to say 鈥榶es, that makes sense or they pop the balloon and have their own suggestion for the boundary commission.鈥�

The BCEBC will visit 琉璃神社 and eight other municipalities between April 4 and 8, seeking input from residents regarding ongoing electoral boundaries review, which is required after every two provincial elections. The 琉璃神社 date is .

Read More: 鈥楤e part of the process鈥�: B.C. Electoral Boundaries Commission to hold public meetings

gary.barnes@kelownacapnews.com
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