An electoral redistribution was undertaken in 2008 in

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

in a process that began in late 2005 and was completed with the passage of the ''Electoral Districts Act, 2008'' on April 10, 2008. The redistribution modified most electoral boundaries in the province and increased the number of MLAs from 79 to 85. The electoral boundaries created by the redistribution were first used in the 2009 provincial election. The provincial government mandated the BC Electoral Boundaries Commission to recommend new maps (for both BC-STV and the traditional " single-member plurality" SMP systems) prior to the second electoral reform referendum. The commission's preliminary report, delivered in August 2007, was received with concern by both the New Democratic Party opposition and the governing Liberal party. In addition to concerns about boundaries and size of individual ridings, the commission was criticized for shifting seats to the Lower Mainland (which was growing in population) and away from larger but less-populated areas (BC has traditionally given some electoral weight to vast but relatively underpopulated regions without large urban centres, particularly in the north). The commission held subsequent hearings and, in February 2008, submitted 50 amendments to its preliminary report. Province-wide, the amendments would result in a net increase of four electoral districts, for a total of 83 single member plurality electoral districts. The number of proposed BC-STV electoral districts remained at 20. Because of the concern of both parties about the loss of seats in the North and Cariboo, the Commission also reported on the 85-seat map it would have designed if the legislature had passed an amendment requiring this. The legislature then approved the alternative boundaries for 85 ridings. The 2008 provincial election in neighbouring

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

served as a reminder to BC of the "unfinished business" looming ahead.

Ed Stelmach Edward Michael Stelmach (; born May 11, 1951) is a Canadian politician who served as the 13th premier of Alberta, from 2006 to 2011. The grandson of Ukrainian immigrants, Stelmach was born and raised on a farm near Lamont and fluently spea ...

's Conservative party won a sizable majority government (73 out of 83 seats) on the strength of a bare majority of votes cast. In response, the ''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, and is the larg ...

'' described BC's indecision over boundaries as "a significant hitch (that) has developed in the electoral boundary reform process that was to have illustrated how an STV system would carve up the province...Unless members of the legislature are able to forge a compromise that will rescue the politically unpalatable recommendations of the Electoral Boundaries Commission, voters will face another vote on whether to change the system while still uncertain as to how it will look in their home communities."

Changes

No change (6)

* Comox Valley * Delta North * Delta South *

New Westminster New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the cap ...

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

Saanich North and the Islands Saanich North and the Islands is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. It is located in the northern suburbs of the provincial capital, Victoria, and includes the southern Gulf Islands. Saani ...

Adjusted (44)

* Burnaby North * Burnaby-Edmonds * Cariboo North * Columbia River-Revelstoke * Coquitlam-Maillardville * Fort Langley-Aldergrove * Kamloops-North Thompson * Kelowna-Lake Country * Kelowna-Mission * Langley * Maple Ridge-Mission * Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows *

Nanaimo Nanaimo ( ) is a city of about 100,000 on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. "The Harbour City" was previously known as the "Hub City", which was attributed to its original layout design with streets radiating fr ...

Nelson-Creston Kootenay Central is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. It made its first appearance under the name Nelson-Creston in the general election of 1933 following a redistribution of the earli ...

* North Coast * North Vancouver-Lonsdale * North Vancouver-Seymour * Oak Bay-Gordon Head * Peace River North *

Peace River South Peace River South is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. It was created under the name South Peace River by the ''Constitution Amendment Act, 1955'', which split the old riding of Peace Ri ...

* Powell River-Sunshine Coast * Richmond Centre * Richmond East * Richmond-Steveston *

Saanich South Saanich South is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. It was created by 1990 legislation dividing the previous two-member district of Saanich and the Islands which came into effect for the 1 ...

* Shuswap * Skeena * Surrey-Cloverdale * Surrey-Green Timbers * Surrey-Newton * Surrey-Tynehead * Surrey-Whalley * Surrey-White Rock *

Vancouver-Fairview Vancouver-Fairview is a former provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada in use from 2001 to 2024. Fairview is made up of two rectangles: one bounded by Granville Street to the east, 16th Avenue ...

* Vancouver-Fraserview * Vancouver-Hastings * Vancouver-Kensington * Vancouver-Kingsway * Vancouver-Langara * Vancouver-Mount Pleasant * Vancouver-Point Grey * Vancouver-Quilchena * Victoria-Beacon Hill * West Vancouver-Capilano

Minor adjustment with name change (3)

Kootenay East Kootenay East (also known as Kootenay East—Revelstoke) was a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1917 to 1968 and from 1979 to 1997. This riding was created as ...

(was "''East Kootenay''") * Vernon-Monashee (was "''Okanagan-Vernon''") * West Vancouver-Sea to Sky (was "''West Vancouver-Garibaldi''")

Replaced (26)

(primary successor riding is shown) * Abbotsford-Clayburn → Abbotsford-Mission * Abbotsford-Mount Lehman →

Abbotsford West Abbotsford West is a provincial electoral district in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia established by the 2008 British Columbia electoral redistribution, ''Electoral Districts Act, 2008''. It was fi ...

* Alberni-Qualicum → Alberni-Pacific Rim * Bulkley Valley-Stikine → Stikine * Burnaby-Willingdon → Burnaby-Deer Lake * Burquitlam → Burnaby-Lougheed * Cariboo South → Cariboo-Chilcotin * Chilliwack-Kent → Chilliwack-Hope * Chilliwack-Sumas →

Chilliwack Chilliwack ( ) is a city of about 100,000 people and in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is located about east of the City of Vancouver in the Fraser Valley. The enumerated population is 93,203 in the city and 113,767 in the gr ...

* Cowichan-Ladysmith →

Cowichan Valley The Cowichan Valley is a region around the Cowichan River, Cowichan Bay and Cowichan Lake on Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. There is some debate as to the origin of the name Cowichan, which many believe to be an anglicized for ...

* Esquimalt-Metchosin → Esquimalt-Royal Roads *

Kamloops Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the North Thompson River, North and South Thompson Rivers, which join to become the Thompson River in Kamloops, and east of Kamloops Lake. The city is the ad ...

→

Kamloops-South Thompson Kamloops-South Thompson is a former provincial electoral district in British Columbia, Canada in use from 2009 to 2024. The district was established by the '' Electoral Districts Act, 2008'' and first contested in the 2009 general election. Un ...

* Malahat-Juan de Fuca → Juan de Fuca * Nanaimo-Parksville →

Parksville-Qualicum Parksville-Qualicum was a former provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest betwe ...

* Okanagan-Westside →

Westside-Kelowna Kelowna West (name from 2017 to 2024) or Westside-Kelowna (name from 2009 to 2017) is a former provincial electoral district in British Columbia, Canada. It combined a portion of the City of Kelowna on the east shore of Lake Okanagan with commun ...

* Penticton-Okanagan Valley →

Penticton Penticton ( ) is a city in the Okanagan, Okanagan Valley of the British Columbia, Canada, situated between Okanagan Lake, Okanagan and Skaha Lake, Skaha lakes. In the 2021 Canadian Census, its population was 36,885, while its Census geographic un ...

* Port Coquitlam-Burke Mountain →

Port Coquitlam Port Coquitlam ( ) is a city in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of 21 municipalities comprising Metro Vancouver. Located east of Vancouver, it is on the north bank of the confluence of the Fraser River and the Pitt River. Coquitlam borders ...

* Port Moody-Westwood → Port Moody-Coquitlam * Prince George North → Prince George-Mackenzie * Prince George-Mount Robson → Prince George-Valemount * Prince George-Omineca → Nechako Lakes * Surrey-Panorama Ridge → Surrey-Panorama * Vancouver-Burrard → Vancouver-West End * Victoria-Hillside → Victoria-Swan Lake *

West Kootenay-Boundary West Kootenay-Boundary was a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada from 2001 to 2009. The seat combined the Rossland/Trail/Castlegar area (the putative ''West Kootenay'' component) that had previo ...

→

Kootenay West Kootenay West was a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1917 to 1988. This Riding (division), riding was created in 1914 from parts o ...

* Yale-Lillooet → Fraser-Nicola

New ridings (6)

* Abbotsford South *

Boundary-Similkameen Boundary-Similkameen is a provincial electoral district in British Columbia, Canada. It was formed in 2008 out of parts of Penticton-Okanagan Valley, West Kootenay-Boundary and Yale-Lillooet. The riding's name corresponds to that of a form ...

* Coquitlam-Burke Mountain * Nanaimo-North Cowichan * Surrey-Fleetwood * Vancouver-False Creek

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:British Columbia electoral redistribution, 2008

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

British Columbia electoral redistribution, 2008

Electoral redistribution Redistribution (re-districting in the United States and in the Philippines) is the process by which electoral districts are added, removed, or otherwise changed. Redistribution is a form of boundary delimitation that changes electoral distr ...