Tweak riding plans, says Langley MP
Federal ridings are being re-jigged for Langley and B.C
The newly proposed plans call for two ridings including parts of Langley.
Photograph by: Submitted image , for Langley Advance
Langley MP Mark Warawa will ask for changes to the proposed boundaries of new federal ridings being drawn up for Langley and its neighbours.
The Electoral Boundaries Commission of B.C. has sent its suggested new boundaries to Parliament.
Warawa has represented Langley since it became its own riding in 2004.
Warawa replaced Randy White, who decided to run when Abbotsford was split off from what was then the Langley-Abbotsford riding.
Warawa said his first choice for the riding would be for it to remain a single one covering just Langley Township and City.
That's unlikely, as the combined population of the City and Township was close to 130,000 at the last census. One of the main goals of the Boundaries Commission is to have approximately 103,000 to 105,000 residents in each riding, to ensure equal representation.
Warawa said that having a single community for his riding has made it easy to work with local and provincial politicians on local issues.
His second choice, he said, would be to have a riding that encompasses just Langley Township, which is very close in population to the ideal for a single riding.
The proposed boundaries include two ridings covering parts of Langley.
The proposed Cloverdale-Langley riding would include much of Cloverdale, the growing Clayton area in Surrey, all of Langley City, and the portion of Willoughby west of 208th Street in Langley Township.
The remainder of Langley, from Walnut Grove to Glen Valley, Brookswood and Fernridge to Aldergrove, would be part of a new Langley-Abbotsford riding. The riding would include a portion of the mostly rural western Abbotsford.
Langley Township has previously backed Warawa's request for either an all-Langley riding or a Township-only riding.
Township Councillor Steve Ferguson's motion supporting those proposals was passed last year as the Electoral Boundaries Commission was doing its first round of public discussions.
An all-Township riding would have very close to the exact number of people called for in the guidelines, Ferguson said.
"It would make a lot of sense," he said.
If Langley is split up, Warawa already lives east of the dividing line, in what could become the Fort Langley-Aldergrove federal riding.
"I would still run in that riding," he said.
Warawa is pleased B.C. is getting more seats.
"We're one of the fastest growing areas in Canada," he noted.
