(MARSHALL JONES / iNFOnews.ca)

Kelowna and Vernon could become a new electoral riding by the next federal election.

A Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission report released today, May 2, proposes a new federal riding that stretches from Vernon south to Kelowna and encompasses much of Kelowna northwest of Highway 97.

The new riding would be called Vernon-Lake Country.

The riding would be the only new federal riding in B.C. taking the number of electoral districts to 43.

The Electoral Commission says the changes come about due to significant but uneven growth of the population in B.C.

"Our task is to create an additional riding and to adjust the boundaries of existing ridings to maintain effective federal representation for all British Columbians," Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission Chair Justice Mary Saunders said in a press release. "(The) growth pattern creates a domino effect if we are to be fair and have relative equality between voters in different electoral districts. Our proposal necessarily gives attention to what is possible and practical given our varied and rugged geography and our distinct communities."

The new boundaries would scrap the Kelowna-Lake Country riding and create a Kelowna riding that covers an area south and east of Highway 97. The riding would stretch from South Kelowna northeast and encompass Winfield and Oyama.

The current North Okanagan-Shuswap boundary would be redrawn and expanded and cover an area just north of Vernon, west to Kamloops (but not including the city) and east to include Revelstoke.

The current Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo riding would also be expanded west to include Lillooet and Litton and be called Kamloops-Thompson-Lytton.

The South Okanagan-West Kootenay riding would also see dramatic changes, with a line being drawn through the City of Penticton. A new Coquihalla riding would include half of Penticton, Summerland, Peachland, West Kelowna, and stretch west to include Merritt and Princeton.

The riding South Okanagan-West Kootenay would then include the east side of Penticton stretching to Castlegar and down to the U.S. border.

The proposals are now waiting to go to public consultation which will be held across the Southern Interior in June.

The Electoral Boundaries Commission report states the population of B.C. has grown to 5,000,879, according to the 2021 census, which is an increase of about 600,000 since 2011. The report states each electoral district would have roughly 116,300 people.

As part of the Canadian constitution reconfiguring the electoral district boundaries is mandated to take place every 10 years.

The full report on the prosed changes can be found here.

For maps of the current and proposed electoral districts go here.

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