ELECTORAL
BOUNDARIES COMMISSION SETS
The commission
delivered its Preliminary Report to the
Speaker on August 15, 2007. Following the release of the Preliminary
Report the
commission held public hearings in
On September 13,
2007, the Premier announced that: “The
government intends to introduce legislation this fall that will give
the
commission the legal tools required to protect rural
representation.”
As a result, the commission cancelled the remaining scheduled
hearings.
On October 24,
2007, the government introduced Bill 39.
The legislature adjourned its session on November 29, 2007 without
passing the
bill. Consequently, commission chair Justice Bruce Cohen stated:
"We
will complete our mandate under the existing legislation.”
The commission
will submit any amendments to the
Preliminary Report to the Speaker by February 15, 2008 after conducting
public
hearings during January 2008 in the Lower Mainland, Cariboo-Thompson,
Okanagan,
Columbia-Kootenay and
Justice Cohen also
explained that: "Once we have
submitted any amendments to the Speaker, it will be up to the
legislature to
decide on our proposals."
