Yukon Electoral Boundaries Commission proposing more ridings in Whitehorse

The Yukon Electoral District Boundaries Commission is proposing the territory increase the number of ridings in Whitehorse due to an growing population. 

The Yukon territory currently has 19 electoral districts. Eleven of them are in the city of Whitehorse, and eight in rural communities.

In the Yukon Electoral District Boundaries Commission's 2024 Interim Report released earlier this month, it proposes that the territory increase the ridings in Whitehorse to 13, while merging rural ridings down to six.

"The last commission that proposed boundary changes was in 2008," said the commission's chair, Justice Suzanne Duncan. "There's been a huge population growth between 2008 and now."

Duncan said the majority of that growth has been in Whitehorse, and most recently within the city's Whistle Bend subdivision. That's why the commission proposes to create two new districts called Whistle Bend North and Whistle Bend South.

"It's expected that in Whistle Bend by 2030 there will be eight to 10 thousand people there," said Duncan. "Right now there's an estimated four thousand there. That's the reasons for the proposal to create two new districts in Whistle Bend."

Outside of Whitehorse, the commission is proposing to merge the Vuntut Gwitchin district of Old Crow with the Klondike district in Dawson City. The new district would be called Yukon North. 

"The reason for that is because Old Crow there are 188 electors and so they are very over represented," Duncan said.

According to Duncan, the law says the right to vote requires effective representation. She said the way you calculate that is to look at the number of electors in the territory which right now is estimated at around 31,655. She said you divide that by the number of electoral districts which is 19, and you get 1,666 which is the average number of voters in the electoral district. So for every person's vote to have the same weight, every electoral district should have around 1,666 people.

"So the courts have said, OK, what's reasonable?" she said. "Twenty-five per cent variance on either side of that average number is reasonable. When you look at currently the way the districts are set up in the Yukon, there are 11 of the 19 that are outside of the 25-per-cent variance. That's a really high proportion of districts that are out of proportion." 

Other communities that could possibly see a merge in ridings are the communities of Faro with Ross River and Watson Lake.

Duncan said nothing proposed in the interim report is final.

She said there will be opportunities for Yukoners in the affected rural communities to have their say when public hearings are held in the coming months.

'Doesn't make sense'

The commission's interim report was brought up during the Association of Yukon Communities (AYC) annual general meeting in Dawson City last weekend.

AYC member Kirk Cameron, who is also a Whitehorse city councillor, raised some concerns with the Vuntut Gwitchin and Klondike riding merge.

"[It] kind of sucks them into the larger structure called Dawson City," Cameron said.

"Let's say I'm running in Dawson City for the riding and I can basically go through the entire electoral process with never stepping foot in Old Crow, and I could still easily win the election just by the sheer population size of Dawson City over Old Crow. Just that imbalance among certain communities within the overall new realignment of the boundaries in some cases doesn't make sense."

Cameron brought forward a motion at the meeting, that the AYC and its membership have a sit-down with the commission to discuss the proposed changes, and the potential impact the changes could have on affected communities.

The motion was passed, however, no meeting has been scheduled as of yet.

Molly Shore, a Dawson resident and former town councillor, also thinks that having Dawson City and Old Crow comprise one riding could pose some issues.

"I understand that the commission is trying to balance what they see as a problem of Vuntut Gwitchin being over-represented by population," Shore said. "But I do think that they might just be creating a new problem."

The new problem, according to Shore could be that Vuntut Gwitchin citizens could be under-represented in the legislature. 

Shore pointed out that Dawson City's population is growing at a much faster rate than that of Old Crow's, which could potentially skew the balance of power even further.

"In our communities, name recognition and personal connections are huge when it comes to electing an MLA," she said. "It would take a really special Dawsonite to actually truly represent, and understand the needs and interests of, Old Crow residents."

Annie Blake is the NDP MLA for the Vuntut Gwitchin district.

In a statement to CBC News she wrote that it's "important that people in my community get a chance to look at the commission's interim report."

"There's a lot to consider as the commission continues it's work and I'll be listening to what people in Old Crow have to say."

Sandy Silver, Liberal MLA for the Klondike district, was not available for comment but his office issued a statement on the subject, writing "our caucus does not have a position on the commission's report." 

"We're still studying the impacts of the commission's proposed changes and we especially want to hear feedback from the public and have the opportunity to review the commission's final report before determining our caucus' next steps."