New Westminster-Coquitlam among new riding recommendations

Coquitlam might join with New Westminster and Port Moody voters might end up looking at the same ballot as Burquitlam residents in the next provincial election.

The B.C. Electoral Boundaries Commission recently released its final report, recommending six new ridings across the province as well as substantial changes to electoral boundaries in the Tri-Cities.

Currently, Burnaby, New Westminster and the Tri-Cities are comprised of nine ridings. The recommendations, if followed, would add a tenth riding and change the name of five electoral districts.

The logic is to ensure ridings have similar populations rather than to follow municipal boundaries, according to the report.

“In part, this is because young voters told us that they feel their votes are less valuable because of overpopulation in these electoral districts. Some people told us that the area needs two new electoral districts. We consider one additional riding sufficient,” the report stated.

New Westminster-Coquitlam

With Austin Avenue as its northernmost point, the riding would be bounded by North Road on its western side and Blue Mountain Street on its eastern side. The riding follows Brunette Avenue south into New Westminster, carving off the section of New Westminster between Sixth Avenue and the water.

The previous ridings followed municipal borders, with Coquitlam-Maillardville representing the area just to the northeast of New Westminster.

Coquitlam-Maillardville

The newly-drawn Coquitlam-Maillardville extends east from Blue Mountain Street and up to Guildford Way, nuzzling the municipal borders of both Port Moody and Port Coquitlam. The riding includes a small section of Port Coquitlam. This is intended to keep both Kwikwetlem First Nation reserves in the same riding.

Port Moody-Burquitlam

Shaped like a vintage table lamp, Port Moody-Burquitlam rearranges the previous Port Moody-Coquitlam riding. The riding carves out a segment of Burquitlam north of Austin Avenue and heads north around the borders of Port Moody, Belcarra and Anmore. The riding also includes the part of Eagle Ridge between Guildford Way and David Avenue.

At one point, the commission considered putting Westwood Plateau into a Port Moody electoral district and combining Burquitlam with Coquitlam.

“However, we heard that Port Moody is closely tied to Burquitlam,” the commission stated, adding that it also decided to keep Westwood Plateau in the Coquitlam-Burke Mountain riding.

Port Coquitlam

The committee scuttled a previous idea that would have grouped the southern side of Port Coquitlam with Pitt Meadows and Fort Langley.

The proposal was criticized with Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West calling the idea “a creation out of Frankenstein’s lab.” The commission’s new recommendation leaves Port Coquitlam unchanged with the exception of putting one Kwikwetlem First Nation reserve into Coquitlam-Maillardville.

While there is some deviation, electoral ridings are intended to each have about 53,773 residents.