[poll id=”15″]

There’s an election happening in Nanaimo. The big news is of course that this election could trigger a provincial election if the BC Liberals win. But there is something a little different about this election.

The Vancouver Island Party“? What do you think of the pitch?

click for larger versions, or go to their website to see the originals.

The “party” itself claims to be centrist in nature. But I’d say that that is a little beside the point since if a new province was created it would presumably have every party. The question here is really whether Islanders (I’m intentionally leaving off the “Vancouver”) would gain more than they would lose from becoming the 11th province of Canada like Prince Edward Island.

*The 2016 Stats Canada Census doesn’t have a ‘regional’ profile for just Vancouver Island. However, it does group Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and the Sunshine Coast together as an “economic region”, I’ve used that in some places below. Unemployment and GDP is from 2017.

VI (now)PEIBC (now)
Area31,285km2
5,686km2922,503km2
Population*759,366140,2044,648,055
2011-16 Growth*5.31.95.6
Members of Parl.7340
Senators46
Dwellings383,24471,1191,881,969
Unemployment5.09.85.4
GDP$39.5 Billion$4.8 Billion$282 Billion
Data fromStats CanadaCensus Profile

GDP Data from the excellent statistics in the 2017 Vancouver Island Economic Alliance report as well as BC Data and PEI Data.

I don’t know if it would be beneficial for the Island to be a separate province. If it were to happen it would need to be a fresh start. It would have to be governed under Proportional Representation. I would advocate a new beginning for Indigenous people’s on the Island (which is why I left off Vancouver) and that could also mean a completely new start of the remaining forest lands in the E&N Land Grant.

There would be a lot to think about, but I maybe it would be worth it. Take the poll. Should it be considered?

[poll id=”15″]

2 replies on “So what about an 11th Province of Vancouver Island?”

  1. Hey Chris. FYI – There is a typo in the Guiding Principles section currently spelled “PRINCPLES” under the Parties Mission Statement.
    Larry

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