B.C.’s Legislature will grow as new ridings feature in this year’s election

The Legislative Assembly will be a bigger one after this B.C. general election.

After a number of boundary reconfigurations, the number of seats is growing to 93, up from 87.

Three new ridings are appearing on Vancouver’s landscape and all three feature candidates’ names you might recognize.

In the new Vancouver-Little Mountain seat, Christine Boyle, a current Vancouver city councillor, will be representing the BC NDP, while former park board commissioner John Coupar carries the banner for the BC Conservatives.

In the new seat of Vancouver-Yaletown, former Vancouver city councillor Melissa de Genova with the Conservatives goes up against the NDP’s Terry Yung, a former Vancouver police officer.

The new riding of Vancouver-South Granville features Brenda Bailey, the previous NDP government’s minister of jobs, who used to represent the riding of Vancouver-False Creek.

Heading east, a new riding has been coined Burnaby-New Westminster. Burnaby ridings have traditionally voted NDP.

In Surrey, we’re welcoming the new electoral district Surrey-Serpentine River. Notable names here include former Surrey mayor Linda Hepner, running for the B.C. Conservatives, and she will be up against the NDP’s Baltej Singh Dhillon, the first RCMP officer to be allowed to wear a turban as part of his uniform.

In Langley, two ridings have been reconfigured into three. The NDP won the area last time, and former Liberal MP John Aldag is also running for the New Democrats.

In Greater Victoria, Langford-Highlands is the name of the new seat, incorporating parts of an old riding that used to belong to former premier John Horgan.

And in the Okanagan, Kelowna Centre is a new seat, with city councillor Loyal Wooldridge running for the NDP in what has been a Liberal-strong region.