Vaughn Palmer: Equal political representation a challenge in B.C.

VICTORIA — When an independent commission recommended that the legislature be expanded by two seats before the next election, it also put the major political parties on notice about the growing disparities in representation in an increasingly urbanized province. “Increasing the number of electoral districts only goes so far to address the different rates of growth, and electoral districts are becoming more unequal in population over time,” wrote the three-member commission chaired by Supreme Court Judge Thomas Melnick. “This effect is most prominent in areas of rapid growth.”