Federal riding boundaries get changed regularly, ostensibly to improve the quality of democratic representation, but boundaries related to the election of local governments are never questioned.
We should really be paying more attention to democracy at the most local level, where citizens can have practical knowledge of the issues and the best chance to have a personal connection to the people running for office.
Whoever is responsible for the latest change to our federal riding boundaries appears to have decided the illogical boundaries of North Vancouver’s local governments were more important than respect for communities or neighbourhoods.
After coming down Mountain Highway and Lynn Valley Road to the upper levels highway, the eastern boundary of the new North Vancouver-Capilano riding follows the twisty and nonsensical boundary of the City of North Vancouver.
It zigs across the highway to enclose Cedar Village, zags back across the highway at 14th Street to Sutherland Avenue, at which point it turns south to Keith Road. There’s one more zig east to Lynn Creek before it turns south to the waterfront.
There is no good reason why neighbours on either side of 14th Street and Sutherland Avenue should be in different federal ridings.
In fact, there is no good reason for the City of North Vancouver’s boundary. It was drawn to match the land owned by James Keith and Edwin Mahon, the two men in the photo below, sitting on either side of Arnold Kealy, the first mayor of a new city government.
Keith and Mahon controlled the North Vancouver Land and Improvement Company which, along with Lonsdale Estates, were the two developers that benefitted most from having a local government custom-made to meet their needs.
Making the new federal riding boundary to match a local government boundary that does not make sense seems careless and undemocratic. Not paying attention to the quality of our democracy at the most local level seems positively irresponsible.
Guy Heywood is a former elected City of North Vancouver councillor and North Vancouver school trustee. He ran for mayor of the City of North Vancouver in 2018 and 2022.
