Procedure and House Affairs Committee on March 5th, 2013

[Peter Julian, NDP, Burnaby—New Westminster, BC]

There's no cross at Burrard Inlet, so you do have to go around.

The communities are fairly small. Belcarra, Ioco, and Anmore are the tiniest communities in the Lower Mainland. They're separate district municipalities, but I think their populations are about a thousand each.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON]

The next question is actually for the folks from Elections Canada. I just want to make sure I get it in before my five minutes are up.

I'm wondering if, at a subsequent meeting, before we have to make any decisions, you can come back here with the population estimates for those four proposed constituencies. You know what the names are. I would ask you to do that also for any other constituency that is affected by transfers of population, in or out, as a result of these maps, just so we'll have something to work with that is a consensus document.

[Benoit Montpetit, Team Leader, Technical Expert, Electoral Geography, Elections Canada]

According to this map?

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON]

Yes.

[Benoit Montpetit]

I will produce a report of the new ridings proposed, with the adjacent ridings.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON]

That would include the spillover effects from the other ridings that are outside.

[Benoit Montpetit]

Yes. I'll do that and send it to the committee.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON]

Okay. That would be very much appreciated.

The next thing I want to ask goes back to our two witnesses.

You mentioned that you'd had the consent of a number of the adjoining MPs. As you were doing this, I was very quickly trying to take your map and overlay it with my photocopy of the report of the boundaries commission.

I may not be right about this, because it is hard with their different sizes and all that sort of thing, but it looks to me like this would affect as well the territory of the new Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam riding, which I assume is kind of the successor to what James Moore represents now, and also the new North Vancouver riding, I think, which I assume would be Mr. Saxton.

Have you spoken to either of those two and gotten their consent on this? I think I'm right that those two are both affected.

[Peter Julian, NDP, Burnaby—New Westminster, BC]

You're absolutely right about North Vancouver and north Burnaby. We are proposing that this new riding not exist. That's why we're proposing what we've come through with today. It very clearly impacts that.

It does have a minor impact, perhaps, on Mr. Moore's existing riding, if you look at the configuration, but the primary impacts are on the three ridings of the members of Parliament who have come supporting this proposal, namely, me, Mr. Donnelly, and Mr. Stewart.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON]

Right. So—

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

Scott, you're a minute over.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON]

I'm sorry, I'll stop. Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

I was going to ask the same question. Other ridings of members of Parliament are affected by what you're suggesting. We've asked each time at this committee if you have spoken to those members at least. Are they in agreement or not?

[Kennedy Stewart, NDP, Burnaby—Douglas, BC]

One's in the room with us today. That's Mr. Saxton.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

He's up, and he'll be able to answer that question. Oh, sorry, he's not appearing, so I take it you have documentation—

[Kennedy Stewart, NDP, Burnaby—Douglas, BC]

From what I've read in the newspapers, Mr. Saxton's been fairly quiet on these issues, initially questioning the decision of the commission, but from my understanding he has not appeared before either of the commission hearings that I attended.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

Okay. Is the current riding of Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam being affected by this? Minister Moore's riding would be the riding I'm thinking of. I know it borders on this one, and there are some changes to it. Have you asked him?

[Kennedy Stewart, NDP, Burnaby—Douglas, BC]

We didn't have an opportunity to talk with him at the commission hearings because he wasn't there, and we haven't talked to him subsequently.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

All right.

There was some question about the north piece.

[Michel Bédard, Committee Researcher]

I was wondering, in the north, just south of the Mountain Forest, I understand that some neighbourhoods did not get assigned anywhere under your proposal. Would those be in the North Vancouver riding?

[Kennedy Stewart, NDP, Burnaby—Douglas, BC]

You may be talking about the first nation there, Tsleil-Waututh, who, as an aside, have also vigorously objected to the new boundary proposals.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

The point is, I don't think you have it anywhere. We're trying to ask you what riding it's in now.

[Kennedy Stewart, NDP, Burnaby—Douglas, BC]

They're there.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

They're there, in what riding?

[Peter Julian, NDP, Burnaby—New Westminster, BC]

They would be in the North Vancouver reconfiguration that will include North Vancouver and north Burnaby.