A chunk of the North Vancouver federal riding will be carved off and added to the Burnaby-Douglas electoral district if boundary changes recommended by a federal panel are adopted.
Under the change, about 20,000 people who live east of the Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing, including the communities of Deep Cove and the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, would be added to new riding of Burnaby North-Seymour. The rest of the North Vancouver riding - with a population of more than 103,000 - would stay the same.
The electoral map changes would also see the massive West Vancouver- Sunshine Coast-Sea-to-Sky-Country riding lose almost 30,000 residents from the northern-most community of Powell River, which would be added to the Vancouver Island North riding. That would leave the West Vancouver riding with a more average population of 106,000 people.
The changes are being proposed as part of an effort to redraw the political map to accommodate six new federal seats in British Columbia. The change from B.C.'s current 36 federal seats to an anticipated 42 seats is needed to account for population growth in the province.
Under the federal Fair Representation Act, 30 new seats will be added to the House of Commons from across the country.
The move to carve up North Vancouver and add the Seymour area to the current Burnaby-Douglas riding may not be popular on the North Shore, where a similar proposal to redraw the riding a decade ago was abandoned after local objections were raised.
Among the concerns, some local leaders worried that since Seymour residents would make up a small portion of a larger Burnaby riding, they wouldn't be as well served.
But the change's time has come, according to the authors of the report.
"Given the population growth in the North Vancouver, West Vancouver and Sunshine Coast areas . . . we believe the alteration can not longer be postponed," wrote Justice John Hall, chairman of the Federal Electoral Boundary Commission.
"North Vancouver and North Burnaby are quite different," said North Vancouver political commentator David Schreck.
But he noted the two areas have been joined in a federal riding before.
In 1984, Schreck ran as a federal NDP candidate in the then-North VancouverBurnaby riding.
Powell River has also previously been part of the Vancouver Island North federal riding.
Politically, the inclusion of North Vancouver in the Burnaby district could tip that seat to the Tories by injecting an influx of mostly Conservative voters into a swing riding that was narrowly won by the NDP with about 1,000 votes in the last federal election.
The commission is also proposing changing boundaries on southern Vancouver Island, Vancouver, the PortMoodyCoquitlam area, Mission, and south of the Fraser.
While an "average" Canadian MP represents about 103,000 people, in practical terms there is considerable variation in the formula for representation by population.
Boundary commissions also have to consider physical geography, "communities of interest," historical patterns and the ability of MPs to provide "effective representation" when redrawing boundaries.
Working strictly from population numbers, B.C. should be getting more federal seats, said Schreck.
But he added, "I don't think you're going to have a lot of people saying the biggest problem the country is facing is we don't have enough politicians."
The boundary commission will hear comments on the proposed changes at a sitting in North Vancouver's Holiday Inn on Sept. 10 at 7 p.m.
