Christina Lake won’t be moving to a different provincial riding.
The final report of BC’s electoral boundaries commission calls for the community to remain in Boundary-Similkameen.
The commission’s draft report suggested moving Christina Lake to neighbouring Kootenay West as part of a larger exercise at balancing out populations between ridings.
However, based on public feedback, the commission relented.
“We heard about the strong ties between Christina Lake and Grand Forks, and the transportation challenges Christina Lake residents would face in accessing a Kootenay West MLA,” the commission wrote.
“In our review, we also recognized that Christina Lake and Grand Forks share an administrative boundary. For these reasons, our final report keeps Christina Lake in Boundary-Similkameen, the same riding as Grand Forks.”
“Finally, somebody’s listening!” laughed Christina Lake regional district director Grace McGregor when asked for her reaction. “We got our message out and it worked. That’s when your faith is renewed in government, period.”
She said the community and the RDKB board were both very active in presenting their objections and credited in part subscribers to a local e-list with a couple of thousand addresses.
“They are really good when you send something and say ‘Hey, this is what is liable to happen, we need your voice.'”
The decision will, however, mean some further tinkering to the Kootenay West riding. The commission is recommending adding Cherryville, which shares a transportation corridor with Upper Arrow Lakes communities, and renaming the riding Kootenay-Monashee.
The changes still need to be enacted by the BC legislature to take effect with the next provincial election.