Thank you very much. Not only are we from British Columbia, we're from Vancouver Island and we support each other very well.
I'd like to thank the committee for your study. Just by way of some history, I made presentations to the electoral boundaries commissions prior to the 1997 election, and again for the 2004 election, successfully, I might add.
I'll go through my presentation according to the questions that you presented to me.
What is the rationale for my objection?
According to paragraph 15(1)(b) of the act, the commission is required to consider the community of interest or community of identity or the historical pattern of an electoral district in the province, and a manageable geographic size. The boundary proposed by the commission divides the Comox Valley, keeping the town of Comox with Vancouver Island North and moving the city of Courtenay to Nanaimo—Alberni, renamed Courtenay—Alberni. Courtenay and Comox are highly integrated and virtually seamless communities. Dividing them would be completely contrary to the principles espoused by the act.
Powell River considers itself a Sunshine Coast community and has a much stronger community of interest and identity with the rest of the Sunshine Coast than it does with Vancouver Island. There are no governance structures that tie Powell River to Vancouver Island. I refer you to appendix B of my submission for examples.
Vancouver Island North is about four times as large a riding as West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast, with two dozen small communities with some long driving times and small ferries. As well, West Vancouver is reached by one direct flight from Ottawa, which typically takes five hours, while Vancouver Island North typically takes eight hours. Adding the complexity of reaching Powell River to a riding already as large as Vancouver Island North is not reasonable.
Does my objection have community support? Yes, it does. Included in my submission to the committee are letters from the mayors of Courtenay, Powell River, Comox, and the Comox Valley MLA. I did discuss this with the Sunshine Coast MLA, who was supportive of what I was proposing, but I did not receive a letter. Essentially, at all levels of government, nobody supports the proposed boundaries.
What are the demographic consequences of the changes that I'm proposing? The changes will provide fairer representation for Vancouver Island, moving from an average of 3.1% over the electoral quota to 0.7% over, as well as for the Lower Mainland, moving from an average of 2.2% under the electoral quota to 1.6% under.
Is there a domino effect to the surrounding ridings? The changes I've proposed would affect adjacent ridings, but the effect is manageable and practical to address. I'd be happy to elaborate during Qs and As.
Is my objection a repeated argument made before the commission or a new one? I presented similar arguments to the commission, but at that time the proposal was different and the arguments were made differently. As well, information is available now that was not available prior to the public hearings. In the commission's original proposal the city of Courtenay was split between Vancouver Island North and Nanaimo—Alberni. I made the same arguments at the time with respect to Powell River belonging with the rest of the Sunshine Coast and West Vancouver, and how it was unreasonable to split Courtenay in order to add Powell River. However, much of the public outcry was focused on the splitting of Courtenay. The commission tried to address this complaint by keeping Courtenay whole, but then split it from Comox.
I also argued that population should not be added to Vancouver Island simply to solve a Lower Mainland problem, but what I did not have available to me at the time was the regional population breakdown that was provided in the commission's report. Their own data show that on average, Vancouver Island ridings are over the electoral quota and Lower Mainland ridings are under it.
Finally, the boundary as currently proposed has a significant contiguity issue that was not present in the first proposal. By cutting out the city of Courtenay, the town of Comox is barely connected to the rest of the riding. They had to be inventive to do that.
Have I talked to my colleagues about these proposed changes? Yes, I've spoken with my colleagues and have received support. You'll see that my submission has been signed by MPs James Lunney, John Weston, and Mark Strahl, whose current riding boundaries would be most impacted by my proposal.
There is a final question that I posed myself. One of the things the commission must consider is the historic pattern of an electoral district. Wasn't Powell River historically attached to Vancouver Island? In the past Powell River was attached to Vancouver Island, but at the time the upper and lower Sunshine Coasts were kept together and the Comox Valley was kept intact.
That concludes my submission. I think I'm just over five minutes.
Thank you.