Last Chance to Protect Rural Representation, Urges Lali
MERRITT-- The three New Democrat MLAs from the Cariboo-Thompson Region are encouraging rural communities to speak out strongly in favour of protecting rural representation in the B.C. Legislature.
MLAs Harry Lali from Yale-Lillooet, Bob Simpson from Cariboo North, and Charlie Wyse from Cariboo South have written a joint letter to municipal governments, First Nations bands, and community organizations with details about how groups and individuals can make representations to the Electoral Boundaries Commission.
Harry Lali"The Commission needs to be convinced to reverse its Preliminary Report recommending that Yale-Lillooet and Cariboo South be collapsed into one seat instead of two separate seats,” said Lali.
“Residents in the Cariboo-Thompson need to be loud and clear that they will not stand for the reduction of their representation in the Legislature through the elimination of one of the seats in their region.”
The letter notes the Commission will hold a hearing in Quesnel on Jan. 22 at from 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm at the Quesnel & District Seniors’ Centre, 461 Carson Avenue and is accepting written submissions online at http://www.bc-ebc.ca/submissions.
For people living in the southern part of Yale-Lillooet in the communities of Merritt, Logan Lake, Princeton, Hedley, Keremeos and surrounding areas the closest Commission hearing will take place in Kelowna on January 17 from 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm at the Grand Okanagan, 1310 Water Street, Kelowna.
The three NDP MLAs have been speaking out strongly for protecting rural representation since the Commission began hearings in the fall of 2006, both at hearings and in a detailed written submission pointing out that the loss of a rural seat would undermine effective representation for the Cariboo-Thompson Region.
In August, the Commission released a report that would see three rural seats removed from the North, the Kootenays, and Cariboo-Thompson. Public hearings were scheduled for the fall, but were delayed until January. A final report is due in February.
"This is our last chance for Yale-Lillooet residents to attend these hearings or to write and convince the Commission to protect the region’s representation by re-instating the seat proposed to be eliminated in the Cariboo-Thompson,” said Lali.
