The Shuswap will have a new electoral area come November.
On July 11, the B.C. government gave formal consent to the division of Electoral Area C (South Shuswap) into electoral areas C and G within the Columbia Shuswap Regional District.
In doing so, the province recognized services provided in Electoral Area C must be provided to both areas, and that a director be elected for Area G in the upcoming local government election on Oct. 15.
The new electoral area comes into effect Nov. 17, 2022.
The creation of Electoral Area G was the outcome of the Sorrento-Blind Bay Incorporation Study and subsequent referendum on April 30, in which eligible electors of the proposed Sorrento-Blind Bay municipality voted against incorporation (2,027 opposed, 272 in favour).
It was determined that if incorporation wasn’t supported, the CSRD would proceed with the default option of dividing the South Shuswap into two separate electoral areas.
“Due to population growth in Electoral Area C, splitting the region into two areas and adding an additional director will create a more equal distribution of elected representation across the region,” reads a July 21 CSRD media release.
Read more: New electoral area part of Columbia Shuswap Regional District interactive election map
Read more:Referendum results official, South Shuswap to be divided into two electoral areas
A new interactive election map is available on the regional district’s website at csrd.bc.ca, under sections Inside the CSRD and Elections 2022. If you’re unsure which electoral area you’re in, you can type your address in a box on the map to find out.
After a new director is elected, the CSRD board of directors will consist of 12 members, seven representing electoral areas A through G, and the remaining five appointed by the CSRD’s member municipalities: Golden, Revelstoke, Sicamous and Salmon Arm which, due to its population, appoints two members.
The CSRD also announced a small name change. It is now the Columbia Shuswap Regional District, with there no longer being a hyphen between “Columbia” and “Shuswap.”
lachlan@saobserver.net
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