Procedure and House Affairs Committee on Feb. 12th, 2013

[Jim Hillyer, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Lethbridge is around 80,000.

[Tom Lukiwski, Conservative, Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK]

If you know the answer on this, I'd like to hear it. What does the census data indicate for the population growth trends? In ten years from now, for example, the time the next census comes out, have they anticipated what the population of each of those two centres might be?

[LaVar Payne, Conservative, Medicine Hat, AB]

Honestly, Tom, I don't know that answer. However, I can tell you that the population of Medicine Hat increased by 87 over the last three years. That's not very much, 87 people.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

Do you know them all?

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[Jim Hillyer, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Lethbridge has been growing quite a bit. The commission, in their report, said that one of the reasons they made these changes was to allow for foreseeable growth.

[Tom Lukiwski, Conservative, Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK]

So they would be considered cities—obviously, compared with Calgary and Edmonton, small cities, but cities nonetheless. You talked about this hybrid situation where it's a mix between the city and some rural residents, and that everyone, both city residents and rural residents, is satisfied with that.

Is that correct? They don't see any different issues that would...?

[Jim Hillyer, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Not if it's—as I've been putting it—their city.

[Tom Lukiwski, Conservative, Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK]

Right.

[Jim Hillyer, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

It has worked very well over the years. The current Lethbridge riding is that mix. No one wanted that to change; they just recognized it as a necessity.

The current proposal, that has the City of Lethbridge and the County of Lethbridge, everyone in those small towns is happy with. The people in the city have no concerns with having the small towns around it.

[Tom Lukiwski, Conservative, Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK]

That's it for me, Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

Thank you.

I've no one left on our speaking list, so all our questions have been answered. Fantastic.

[Jim Hillyer, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

They know everything now.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

Perfect.

I'll agree with the smart member there.

Thank you very much. You've supplied us with great documentation to start off with, and I think being able to read through it as we went helped us.

I will dismiss our guests.

We'll suspend just for a moment while our guests leave and we wait for our new guests.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

We will unsuspend while we look at the maps.

[Scott Armstrong, Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley, NS]

On the right there in the grey, is that the Medicine Hat riding as it is in the second map in the report?

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

It's going to track on the report, and on the left screen the different colours show a different riding, and it's according to what was presented.

[Scott Armstrong, Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley, NS]

Okay. So that's the difference there.

[Benoit Montpetit]

Up north here you have the south portion of Red Deer River, and here the transfer of Newell County, and south here Warner County and Cardston.

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

So the right is the second report of the boundaries commission, and the left is the status quo—what it is right now?

[Benoit Montpetit]

No, it's what was proposed this morning.

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

Each colour signifies a riding. Is that right?

[Benoit Montpetit]

That's right.

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

The suggestions was that it would curl right around Lethbridge.

[An hon. member]

That's a new one, though. Is that right?