Speakers told the Federal Election Boundary Commission their proposed Pitt Meadows to Fort 91原创 riding is too much for one MP to handle.

The proposed riding includes North 91原创, parts of Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows, Surrey, and more. None of the public feedback at the 91原创 meeting about the riding redraw was positive.

The federal commission that redraws electoral ridings based on trying to achieve a comparable population has been holding hearings about its proposed ridings around the province. The commission was in 91原创 on Thursday, Sept. 22.

鈥�91原创 ridings have grown a great deal,鈥� said Mary Saunders, the judge who chairs the commission.

The ridings are redrawn based on the most recent 2021 census. With the growth in the B.C. population, the province will add one additional riding, which went to the Interior. The goal is to ensure most ridings have about 116,000 residents, although some remote ridings will have fewer people.

The boundaries on Lower Mainland riders were rejigged based on significant population growth, with the Pitt Meadows - 91原创 riding being one of the biggest changes and the commission choosing to have it straddle the Fraser River.

鈥淲e had contemplated with the bridge, that there would be community building,鈥� Saunders explained. 鈥淲e are learning things.鈥�

Speakers generally agreed that the Fraser River makes a more common sense dividing line than the TransCanada Highway.

Cory Redekop, CEO of the Greater 91原创 Chamber of Commerce, tried an experiment. He tried driving the proposed riding the afternoon before the meeting only to find he ran out of time because it is so large.

鈥淚t makes much more sense to cascade east and west (versus north and south),鈥� he commented.

Redekop noted that with the proposed ridings, the chamber has member businesses in Surrey ridings, Cloverdale-91原创 City, 91原创 Township ridings and more. A small section of the Township, for instance, between 196th Street and 200th falls into two Surrey ridings. It鈥檚 unwieldy and will only become more so.

鈥淎long 200th Street, we have a lot of growth planned,鈥� he added.

91原创 resident Brad Richert said he鈥檚 lived in every community south of the Fraser River and rarely crosses the Golden Ears Bridge to do business. He and others said there just isn鈥檛 a north/south relationship.

鈥淭he bridge hasn鈥檛 knit communities together,鈥� acknowledged Saunders.

What do , Pitt Meadows, Surrey, Port Coquitlam and Maple Ridge have in common? Not a heck of a lot, and that's the point!

Tonight, I presented to the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission to advocate to preserve 91原创's representation w/ the federal govt.

鈥� Cory Redekop (@CoryRedekop)

Transit, business, and personal interactions are on an east/west direction. Township Mayor Jack Froese noted that the MP for Pitt Meadows-Fort 91原创 would have to deal with five municipal councils, multiple chambers of commerce, and multiple MLAs and other government representatives.

Others agreed that would mean constituents would not have effective federal representation, for even something as basic as attending community events.

鈥淩emembrance Day 鈥� how many places can an MP be at?鈥� commented Sean Mark Gillespie, who works for MP Marc Dalton.

Froese suggested returning the 196 to 200 Street section back to a 91原创 riding and making a riding that puts Aldergrove in with Abbotsford so that the ridings remain South of the Fraser.

While the biggest proposed change would be to carve off North 91原创 and include it with communities north of the river, there were also proposed changes to the Cloverdale-91原创 City riding, including putting more of Clayton in Surrey ridings.

Scott Thompson said the small section of Sullivan on the western edge of the riding has little in common with Cloverdale and that the riding should be drawn based on the land鈥檚 topography. The Nikomekl and Serpentine Rivers form a greenspace around the western side of Cloverdale, for instance.

He also noted that Cloverdale/Clayton have a more natural relationship with 91原创 City and the western part of the Township than with other parts of Surrey and Clayton should be part of the Cloverdale riding.

The commission will conclude its public input hearings around the province in late September then make its riding proposals to Ottawa which it hopes to do by the end of 2022.

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鈥� READ MORE: Proposed Pitt Meadows Fort 91原创 riding called a 鈥榙og鈥檚 breakfast鈥�

鈥� READ MORE: Liberal and Conservative MPs agree proposed riding flawed

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