The federal electoral boundaries commission is still proposing to spilt the City of Kamloops into a pair of new ridings – Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola and Kamloops-Shuswap- Central Rockies.
Kamloops-Shuswap-Central Rockies
The proposal would see Highway 5A, the Trans Canada Highway, Peterson Creek, and Sixth Avenue used as the dividing line, putting the neighbourhood of Upper Sahali into Kamloops-Shuswap-Central Rockies.
Downtown Kamloops east of Sixth Avenue, and the neighbourhoods of Sagebrush, Valleyview, Rose Hill, Dallas, and Barnhartvale would also be part of this riding – which would stretch as far east as Golden, including the communities of Revelstoke, Salmon Arm, Sicamous, Enderby, Armstrong, Falkland, Westwold, and Chase.
Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola
The Kamloops neighbourhoods of Aberdeen, Pineview, Dufferin, Lower Sahali, the TRU precinct, and downtown Kamloops west of Sixth Avenue, would be part of the Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola riding, along with the entire North Shore and the neighbourhoods of Westsyde, Rayleigh, and Heffley Creek.
Sun Rivers, the Mount Paul Industrial Park, and Tk’emlúps te Secwepemc would also be part of this riding – which also includes the communities of Clearwater, Vavenby, Barriere, Sun Peaks, Ashcroft, Cache Creek, Lillooet, Lytton, Merritt, Logan Lake, Clinton, and 70 Mile House.
The community of Pritchard would be split between both ridings with people north of the South Thompson River in Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola, while people south of the river in Kamloops-Shuswap-Central Rockies.
Next Steps
The revised report – which would increase the number of MPs in B.C. by one to 43 – was tabled in the House of Commons Wednesday. It will be reviewed by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs.
These proposed changes reflect the increase in B.C.’s population from 4,400,057 in 2011 to 5,000,879 in 2021 as reflected in the most recent Census. The commission was tasked to try and add the extra riding while ensuring that every B.C. riding has a population as close as possible to the electoral quota of 116,300.
As it stands, Kamloops – Shuswap – Central Rockies has a population of 109,218 people (about 6.09 per cent below the threshold) while Kamloops – Thompson – Nicola has a population of 111,707 (about 3.95 per cent below the threshold).
“The Commission is appreciative of the participants who devoted their thought and energy to this process of Canadian democracy, and expresses its gratitude for their engagement,” Justice Mary Saunders, the Chair of the three-member commission, said.
MPs have until May to register their objections to the proposed changes, which the commission will be required to consider before presenting a revised report.
The previous proposal released in May 2022 proposed splitting the neighbourhoods of Valleyview, Rose Hill, Dallas, and Barnhartvale – east of the Yellowhead Bridge at Highways 1 and 5 – into the North Okanagan-Shuswap riding, with the rest of Kamloops part of the Kamloops-Thompson-Lytton riding.
That proposal led to concerns from former Kamloops Mayor, Ken Christian, who told NL News that the plan to move people from Valleyview east to Campbell Creek to the North Okanagan-Shuswap riding was only being done to satisfy population requirements.
For more on the newly revised ridings being proposed, go here.
