HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

1 Section 3 (2) of the Electoral Boundaries Commission Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 107, is amended by striking out "87" and substituting "93".

2 Section 9 is repealed and the following substituted:

Governing principles for electoral district proposals

9  (1) In this section, "electoral quotient" means the number obtained by dividing the population of British Columbia by the number of electoral districts in British Columbia proposed by the commission.

(2) For the purposes of section 3, in making proposals as to the area included in and the boundaries of electoral districts, or proposals to increase the number of electoral districts, the commission must be governed by the following principles:

(a) that the principle of representation by population be achieved, taking into account

(i) geographic considerations, including the accessibility, size or physical configuration of any part of British Columbia,

(ii) demographic considerations, including communities of interest and the sparsity, density or rate of growth of the population of any part of British Columbia, and

(iii) the availability and means of communication and transportation between various parts of British Columbia;

(b) that to achieve the principle of representation by population the commission may deviate from the electoral quotient by no more than 25%, plus or minus;

(c) that the commission may exceed the 25% deviation principle if it considers it necessary to provide for effective representation.

(3) For the purposes of subsection (2) (c), in considering whether it is necessary to exceed the 25% deviation principle to provide for effective representation, the commission may take into account one or both of the following:

(a) any special geographic considerations, including a manageable geographic size for electoral districts;

(b) any special demographic considerations, including communities of interest.

Commencement

3  This Act comes into force on the date of Royal Assent.