Ladysmith鈥檚 mayor plans to speak with the province after the B.C. Electoral Boundaries Commission released its final report for re-designed ridings.

The commission presented its final report last week, recommending that the Greater Nanaimo area鈥檚 three ridings be re-aligned into Nanaimo-Gabriola, Nanaimo-Lantzville and Ladysmith-Oceanside.

The proposed change would mean that Ladysmith, Saltair and Cassidy would become part of a riding with Nanoose Bay, Parksville and Qualicum Beach, encircling Nanaimo鈥檚 two ridings.

Ladysmith Mayor Aaron Stone said he disagrees with the proposal, stating the new ridings will create a disconnect 鈥渢hat just doesn鈥檛 make sense.鈥�

鈥淚f you look at the previous few censuses, we鈥檙e all focused on different demographic directions,鈥� he said. 鈥淧arksville and Qualicum are continuing to age while we鈥檙e continuing to try to attract families and get younger.鈥�

Stone said historically, Ladysmith has strong ties with communities in the Cowichan Valley and noted that the town is a member of the Cowichan Valley Regional District. He said it 鈥渂ecomes really challenging when we don鈥檛 have those established relationships in representation.鈥�

Doug Routley, MLA for Nanaimo-North Cowichan, suggested he鈥檚 indifferent to the recommended riding changes.

鈥淸Boundaries] are always more difficult when they鈥檙e first issued, then people adapt and find ways to build new relationships, and preserve those that they already have,鈥� he said.

Routley has been serving as an MLA to the Ladysmith and south Nanaimo area since 2005 and he has experienced multiple boundary changes in his career.

鈥淭he past couple of terms I鈥檝e have had to go into the Nanaimo constituency to take a ferry to Gabriola to an island I represent as [Nanaimo]-North Cowichan. So that was a little different. I can definitely empathize with people,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut again, everyone from [Ladysmith council] and the various council members on Chemainus council, the school board trustees, we鈥檝e got a really dynamic and capable group of people who are doing really good things. I find them all to be really good partners and I just have a lot of confidence that they鈥檒l translate that into the new arrangements.鈥�

In the commission鈥檚 final report, the boundary between the Nanaimo-Gabriola and Nanaimo-Lantzville ridings is Strathmore Street and Meredith Road.

The electoral boundaries commission held consultation in Nanaimo in November based on its preliminary report. The alignment of the Greater Nanaimo ridings in the preliminary report was significantly different and the ridings were referred to at the time as Nanaimo-Ladysmith, Nanaimo-Gabriola and Nanaimo-Oceanside.

The commission鈥檚 final report to B.C.鈥檚 Legislative Assembly was tabled on Monday, April 3. It is now up to the legislature to decide whether to accept the recommendations.

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bailey.seymour@nanaimobulletin.com
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