Procedure and House Affairs Committee on March 5th, 2013

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Langley, BC]

It's this area right here that they've taken out and added to Langley city. Langley city is this area right here.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

So you're impacting on the new riding of Cloverdale—Langley with your proposal.

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Langley, BC]

Correct.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

One of the challenges we've had, as the chair will know, is that we've looked at Alberta where they're adding some seats and there were a lot of configurations and effects on the new riding as suggested. We don't have anyone to speak on behalf of the new riding because obviously there is no one there.

What does that mean logistically for communities of interest for that Cloverdale—Langley riding under your proposal? How does it change things?

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Langley, BC]

As I said, right in this area is the Langley Events Centre. It is a centre of culture. In that area there is a large Korean—and I want to use Canadian—concentration. To keep it together really would help the community.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

To be clear on that, you are suggesting in your proposal to keep it. Are your lines the same as what the boundary commission has proposed, or have you moved the line over there?

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Langley, BC]

Right. I'm proposing that this line right here be moved over to here.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

And you want to keep that cultural centre in Langley.

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Langley, BC]

Correct.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Okay.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

Mark, that small slice you're talking about, what is the population?

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Langley, BC]

It's 21,000. It's 35 polls.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

So it's fairly—

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

So those 35 polls and the 21,000, which way they go has, as Tom pointed out, big impacts on both ridings in terms of trying to hit that target.

Your argument to us today is that we're going to deviate more than what's suggested in order to hit that community of interest box. I don't want to sum it up.

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Langley, BC]

I think that fairly sums it up. Because of community of interest, they are so connected to the township of Langley culturally because of what's going on around there. If you removed them, you would be putting them into a community where they would no longer be part of that cultural mosaic.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

So even though Tom took my time, I'm still going to come in under time. I just want the committee to note that for future consideration.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

We'll put that in the bank for you. Thank you.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

Monsieur Dion, five minutes for you, please.

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, QC]

Thank you very much.

Mark, could you repeat the numbers for the committee? If the commission agrees with your proposal, what does that mean for the quotas? How far are we? You gave the explanation but I did not understand. How far are we now, and how far would we be with your proposal for the two ridings that would be affected?

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Langley, BC]

Thank you very much. Currently what's being proposed for Cloverdale, hopefully called Cloverdale—West Langley, is 108,519, and that would reduce it by 21,000 to 87,519. It would be 35 polls. The minimum suggested quotient would be 78,000, so it's still substantially above the minimum. By putting those 35 polls back into Langley, from whence they came, that 21,000 would increase that population of 94,883 to 115,883, which is the proposal from the commission. In that 25% variant you can have up to 130, so it's well under that. It does meet the variant but it dramatically takes into consideration the community of interest and community of identity.

Chair, before I was elected federally I was a bureaucrat with the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, in loss prevention. I worked with a number of different communities, and Langley is unique in its level of volunteerism and community involvement. Everybody in the Fraser Valley will acknowledge that; Langley is unique. That's why this is so important to the community. Every weekend there are community events. Everybody is involved, and we do not want to disenfranchise any part of the community.

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, QC]

So today the magnitude is 94 for one riding and 108 for the other one.

With your proposal, it would be 87 for one riding and 105 for the other one, so the magnitude is much bigger.

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Langley, BC]

It would be 115.

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, QC]

Yes, 115. So the magnitude is bigger.

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Langley, BC]

It is.