6 hours Ago By Jennifer Smith
Cherryville residents are stuck voting for people who live four to five hours away from them in the upcoming provincial election. The small North Okanagan community used to be part of the Vernon electoral riding, but is now represented by Kootenay-Monashee. Boundary adjustments made across the province have pushed Cherryville out of the new Vernon-Lumby riding.
So come Saturday, Oct. 19, voters in Cherryville can elect one of three people, who live 300 kilometres away. Their choices are Conservative Glen Byle (who lives in Warfield), Green Donovan Cavers (lives in Genelle - between Castlegar and Trail) and NDP Steve Morissette (Fruitvale mayor).
But Cherryville residents don't have to go far to vote on election day as there is a polling station at the Cherryvile Community Hall, 158 North Fork Rd., from 8 a.m.
to 8 p.m. Residents will, however, have quite the distance to travel if they need to see their new MLA, outside of any visits the newly elected representative may or may not make to Cherryville.
"We have been moved from being represented by an MLA constituency office located approximately 45 minutes away to one that is over four hours away (and upwards of six hours in winter)," said Jim Johnson, Cherryville electoral area director, in a letter to Premier David Eby in August. Cherryville is within the Regional District of North Okanagan, of which Johnson is the Area E director. Johnson says the community of approximately 1,000 people has a high percentage of seniors and much of the area does not have high-speed internet access, therefore in-person representation is necessary.
Those needing to visit their MLA from Cherryville have to take a ferry and travel through two mountain passes that Johnson says are frequently closed to dangerous conditions in the winter. "While we recognize the need to balance riding populations to ensure fairness of representation, Cherryville has been moved into a district that is simply too far away to effectively represent our community." Johnson is hoping a reconsideration of the boundary will be made due to Cherryville being "alienated.
".
