File Photo

(DARREN RATHWELL / iNFOnews.ca)

The Thompson Nicola Regional District has more board members than any other district in the region and it's time to break it up, one director says.

It's also larger by area compared to most in the region, leading director Mike O'Reilly to suggest its borders be adjusted, or even divided into another district.

Through a motion he presented to the board May 19, O'Reilly suggests that the board create a committee to study the merits of redrawing the boundaries of the nearly 44,500 square-kilometre regional district.

The 26 directors will debate the creation of a new committee at its next meeting.

READ MORE: RIH patients may be transferred in urgent response to weekend staffing shortages

Outside Metro Vancouver, that's more voting members than any other regional district in the province. O'Reilly suggests through his motion that a smaller board could "result in better governance."

The Metro Vancouver regional government has 40 board members, but it also vastly outnumbers other regions by municipalities it covers and populations it governs.

The four regional districts for the Okanagan, Shuswap, Columbia and Similkameen have no more than 14 directors on their boards.

The Thompson Nicola Regional District also covers more area, with its northern boundaries reaching passed Blue River into Wells Gray Provincial Park.

READ MORE: Former Kelowna social worker deprived youth in his care after stealing their money: Judge

There are 27 regional districts in the province, ranging from less than 2,000 to nearly 120,000 square-kilometres, and populations from 4,000 to two million people.

The regional government structure established in the 1960s is also unique to British Columbia.

The Thompson Nicola's area is roughly six times larger than the North Okanagan Regional District, with just around 55,000 more people. It's also 15 times larger than the Central Okanagan Regional District, but with 75,000 fewer people.

READ MORE: B.C. lawyer seriously injured by bodycheck during rec hockey game suing

The B.C. Government estimated the Thompson Nicola Regional District's population to be 147,5000 in 2020, which is projected to increase to 173,500 by 2040. The North Okanagan is only expected to increase to 109,000 by then, while it expects the Central Okanagan to reach nearly 286,000 people.

The bulk of the Thompson Nicola Regional District's population comes from the City of Kamloops which has roughly 100,000 people as of the most recent census data, and the remaining population is spread among other communities in the region like Logan Lake, Merritt, Ashcroft, Chase and Clearwater.

If the motion is adopted by the board, a new committee would study where new boundaries would lie and report back within a year, as it's currently written.

That study would also have to go through the provincial government, which would eventually include restructuring how services are delivered in the region and how bylaws are enforced.

O'Reilly introduced the motion at the May 19 board meeting, but it will return for a debate on June 16.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Levi Landry or call 250-819-3723 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. 

News from © iNFOnews, 2022