The new proposed federal electoral map is tearing Burnaby apart

Burnaby is facing incursions from both sides—a two-front war, if you will—as the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for BC proposes a new electoral map for the province.

If the currently proposed map goes forward, two Vancouver ridings and one Tri-Cities riding would be encroaching on Burnaby’s territory.

Vancouver South and Vancouver Kingsway would each dig into the Burnaby South riding, currently represented by NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh.

Want to see the map itself? Here it is.And you can find the commission’s commentary on the changes here.

The Old Orchard Mall would be annexed by Vancouver South, and the Garden Village neighbourhood, sandwiched between Metrotown and Burnaby Hospital, would go to Vancouver Kingsway.

To make up for the losses to the west, the commission proposes robbing Peter (Julian) to pay Jagmeet—the new map would cut half of Edmonds out of Julian’s New Westminster-Burnaby riding and add it to Burnaby South.

In fact, the NDP finance critic’s riding would drop “Burnaby” from its name altogether, instead going by New Westminster-Bridgeview.

That’s because, to make up for Singh’s incursions into Julian’s riding, along with Richmond East taking over New Westminster’s Queensborough neighbourhood, the new riding would now reach across the Fraser River and into the Surrey Centre riding.

But that doesn’t mean there’ll be no Burnaby in Julian’s riding—everything southwest of Edmonds Street would remain in the New Westminster-Bridgeview riding.

Cariboo Hill’s contribution to the riding would remain intact, with the slight addition of four houses and a duplex along Nursery Street that had been singled out and added to Burnaby South in the current map.

Burnaby North-Seymour, meanwhile, is proposed to shift somewhat to the northwest.

The new map would take a chunk out of Burnaby and add it to Port Moody-Coquitlam, including Forest Grove, the industrial district just south of Forest Grove, the Lougheed town centre and the Trans Mountain tank farm.

A slice of Burquitlam, between Stoney Creek, Broadway, and North Road would remain in Burnaby North-Seymour, along with the UniverCity neighbourhood and SFU campus.

To make up for the loss there, the new boundaries on the north shore would add Lynn Canyon Park, Capilano University, and the Lynn Valley Centre to Burnaby North-Seymour. Those currently sit in the North Vancouver riding.

In all, Burnaby is slated to go from three ridings to six. However, half of those ridings only barely enter the city. Burnaby South would remain the only riding that is fully within the city.

You can provide your input on the proposed electoral map by email, regular mail, or attending a public hearing. Details for all options are here.

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