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Cloverdale Chamber against proposed changes to Cloverdale-Langley City riding

Scott Wheatley wants to see changes that reflect needs of residents
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Scott Wheatley, executive director of the Cloverdale District Chamber of Commerce, has proposed different changes to the riding of Cloverdale-Langley City over the changes advocated by the electoral boundaries commission for B.C. Wheatley wants a riding that “effectively represent the needs of the constituents.” (Image submitted: Cloverdale Chamber)

The Cloverdale District Chamber of Commerce doesn’t support proposed changes to the riding of Cloverdale-Langley City.

Now the Chamber is suggesting its own boundaries for the federal riding after the proposed changes were released earlier this year.

The electoral boundaries commission for B.C. has proposed hacking Clayton Heights out of Cloverdale-Langley City in favour of an area of Newton.

But the proposed changes to riding fall short of what Chamber executive director Scott Wheatley thinks is best for local residents.

Wheatley presented the Cloverdale Chamber’s perspective on the federal electoral district changes to the Commission for British Columbia at the Sheraton Guildford Sept. 13 during the commission’s public hearings phase of the redistribution process.

SEE ALSO: New federal riding would river-hop to merge parts of Surrey and New West, and SBOT objects

“The riding of Cloverdale-Langley City is unique and does not require major modification to effectively represent the needs of the constituents.” said Wheatley. Wheatley’s Chamber represents businesses in Cloverdale, Clayton, and Campbell Heights.

“We suggest that the sliver of Newton be allocated to Fleetwood Port Kells and that Clayton Heights be returned to Cloverdale-Langley City to balance numbers.”

Wheatley said the small pocket of residents south of Highway 10, between 168th Street and 196th Street, should also be part of the Cloverdale-Langley City riding.

“This area of Surrey is surrounded by the ALR which acts as a natural barrier between the area and the rest of Surrey,” he added. “Cloverdale and Clayton residents are naturally drawn to shop in Langley as it is better accessed than the rest of Surrey by transit or vehicle.”

In May the commission for B.C. released a new electoral map that, based on the latest census information, adds one riding in the province, increasing B.C.’s seats in Parliament to 43.

The proposed map would also increase the number of Surrey ridings to eight from five, and rename several of them.

Currently, Surrey is split into five federal ridings, including Surrey Centre, Surrey-Newton, Fleetwood-Port Kells, Cloverdale-Langley City and South Surrey-White Rock. Two of those ridings, South Surrey-White Rock and Cloverdale-Langley City, include both Surrey and a neighbouring municipality.

With the proposed new map, Surrey would be broken into eight ridings: New Westminster-Bridgeview, Surrey Centre, Pitt Meadows-Fort Langley, Fleetwood-Port Kells, Cloverdale-Langley City, Surrey West, Delta and South Surrey-White Rock.

For more info on the electoral boundaries commission for B.C., visit redecoupage-redistribution-2022.ca.

For more info on the proposed changes to the federal riding of Cloverdale-Langley City, or other ridings in B.C., visit redecoupage-redistribution-2022.ca.

—with files from Tom Zillich.



editor@cloverdalereporter.com

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Malin Jordan

About the Author: Malin Jordan

Malin is the editor of the Cloverdale Reporter.
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