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Vancouver and Surrey voters face ward system proposals in the municipal election, aiming to replace the at-large system and improve local representation.
Voters in Vancouver and Surrey, British Columbia's two largest cities, will once again consider returning to a ward system after this month's municipal election. Under a ward system, councillors are elected to represent specific geographic areas, similar to how MLAs and MPs are elected to provincial and federal ridings. Currently, both cities use an at-large system, where each councillor represents the entire city, resulting in Vancouver voters facing a ballot with no fewer than 130 names.
Proposals for Ward System in BC Cities
In Surrey, former mayor Doug McCallum has pledged to split the city into eight wards, chosen by an independent boundaries commission, if he and his Safe Surrey party are elected. Council would need to pass the proposal, which would then be sent to the B.C. government for approval. McCallum noted Surrey's population has increased tenfold since the province abolished its ward system in 1957. The city now has around 733,000 residents and is expected to top one million in the coming decades.
McCallum argued that a city of a million people cannot be run by a council that no neighbourhood chose. He stated that wards mean every community gets a seat at the table, every councillor has to earn it on the doorsteps of the people they serve, and every resident knows who to call and whose job it is to answer. He added that this is how every big city in the country works and how Surrey worked for 76 years before Victoria took it away.
Meanwhile, the Vancouver Liberals have promised to hold a referendum on whether to restore a ward system in Vancouver, 22 years after a similar proposal was narrowly rejected in a plebiscite. Mayoral candidate Kareem Allam said Vancouver has changed enormously over the past two decades and it is time to ask whether the current system of representation still reflects the city and gives communities the accountability they deserve. The party said it would convene a citizens' assembly to consider various implementations of the ward system before recommending one in the referendum.
Concerns About NIMBYism in Ward System
Hamish Telford, associate professor of political science at the University of the Fraser Valley, called it crazy to ask voters to familiarize themselves with 130 candidates. He admitted a bias, having grown up with a ward system in Toronto, and said wards make a lot more sense to him. Several of Toronto's wards have fewer than 10 council candidates this year, along with a handful of school board trustees.
Telford noted downsides to wards, including the potential for councillors to become hostage to NIMBYism among their local constituents. Concerns about elected officials being too hyper-focused on their own wards, potentially to the detriment of the city as a whole, were part of the reason Vancouverites voted to abolish wards in 1935, and why the B.C. government stepped in and abolished Surrey's ward system decades later. Telford acknowledged some plausibility to that argument but said he does not feel it outweighs the problems that emerge in the at-large system. With dozens of names on a ballot, residents may feel the easiest option is to simply vote along party lines, picking the slate they prefer without necessarily knowing who the individuals are, which is not the most informed way to vote.
Current Use of Wards in British Columbia
Only one B.C. municipality currently uses wards, and it is as part of a hybrid system. Voters in Lake Country, which was formed by combining four previously unincorporated communities, elect councillors in four wards, plus two at-large councillors who represent the entire district. Telford mused that many B.C. voters cling tenaciously to the idea of having a local representative whenever the notion of electoral reform comes up at either the provincial or federal level, but that does not necessarily mean they have an appetite for change at the municipal level. He said it just speaks to the inherent conservativeness of people when it comes to changing electoral systems. Even if Safe Surrey and the Vancouver Liberals are voted in this month, Telford predicted their respective ward proposals could still be brushed aside for more urgent priorities. He said he would be very surprised if any municipality actually pushed forward with it after the election.
Vancouver Surrey Ward System Municipal Election Doug Mccallum Kareem Allam Hamish Telford
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