The federal electoral landscape is about to shift a little in Richmond.
The House of Commons tabled a report for the Federal Election Boundaries Commission for B.C., which redrew the provinces federal electoral map.
B.C. is gaining six electoral districts, bringing the total number to 42, as well as seeing constituency boundaries shifted.
As part of the shift, the former Delta-Richmond East riding, currently belonging to the Conservatives Kerry-Lynne Findlay, will dissolve into Delta for the next election.
While Richmond will now be divided into two distinct ridings, Richmond West and Steveston-Richmond East.
Deltas north and south ends have been brought together again into one federal constituency.
Local political analyst Sacha Peters said the move is great news for Richmond, which will now have two MPs completely dedicated to the city.
The city is now going to have two federal politicians who will be totally within the boundaries of Richmond, said Peters.
Every voter having their say, on who their MP will be, is now from Richmond.
Peters also suggested the move may have some positive impact on the trend of low voter turnouts, especially in the new Steveston-Richmond East riding.
In the east, yes, it could be affected, as its not going to be lumped together with Delta and the politics of the east dont have to be intertwined with the politics of Delta, he added.
I dont think the west riding is going to be affected that much, if at all.
Neither does Peters think that any party is going to be affected one way or the other by the change.
Assuming that people vote the same way as they did in 2011 which might not be the case both ridings are unlikely to change hands from the Conservatives, he said.
Canadas electoral districts are reviewed every 10 years by independent commissions in each province and changes are made based on population numbers, as captured by the federal census, as well as other factors, such as communities of interest or identity, and historical and geographical factors.
