Benchers' Bulletin Supplement
1992: December

Lawyers asked to comment on proposal to change electoral districts

Looking to fairer Bencher representation

The B.C. legal profession has grown and the distribution of lawyers across the province has changed dramatically in the past four decades. Yet, since the Legal Professions Act was amended in 1955 to introduce Bencher elections by county, the boundaries of the Bencher electoral districts have changed very little and the number of Benchers has increased in only an ad hoc fashion.

One elected B.C. Bencher now represents an average of 296 lawyers, more than five times the number in 1955. And the ratio varies significantly from district to district. A Victoria County Bencher represents 25% more lawyers than the provincial average. By contrast, the Bencher for Prince Rupert represents 75% fewer lawyers than the provincial average. These disparities mean that lawyers in some districts are significantly under-represented.

The Benchers see a need to rationalize the electoral districts for better representation by population and also for better representation in areas of significant lawyer population that have not traditionally elected Benchers.

The Planning Committee urged the Benchers in 1992 to adopt a more comprehensive electoral scheme. The Benchers agreed to put forward to the profession a package of 15 possible changes including several options to restructure electoral districts.

Section 12 (1) of the Legal Profession Act provides that the current eight electoral districts follow county boundary lines, and sets the number of Benchers for each district: Vancouver (13), Victoria (2), Nanaimo (1), Westminster (3), Kootenay (1), Yale (2), Cariboo (2) and Prince Rupert (1) [see map on page 6.]

Electoral boundaries and the number of Benchers can be changed by approval by 2/3 of the members at a general meeting of the Society, or in a referendum.

The Benchers would like to have the proposed electoral boundary changes put in final form for members at the next Annual Meeting, now scheduled for September, 1993. But before finalizing the proposal, the Law Society needs the views of the profession.

The Benchers urge all members to reflect on the proposals set out in this Supplement and to forward their comments and suggestions to the Planning Committee by February 15, 1993. A final draft of the proposals will be distributed in advance of the 1993 Annual Meeting.

History of Bencher electoral districts

When the election of Benchers by district was introduced in 1955, there were 1,147 lawyers practising in the province and 20 Benchers elected in the eight counties, approximately 57 members for each elected Bencher.

Although the county boundaries have remained essentially unchanged since 1955, there have been changes to the number of Benchers in some counties and an increase from 20 to 25 in the total number of elected Benchers.

With one exception, each change in representation was brought about by a membership resolution passed at an Annual Meeting of the Law Society, with statutory amendments enacted afterward.

What goes into a new electoral distribution?

A primary concern in realigning Bencher electoral boundaries is achieving representation by population, to ensure the voting power of each individual is relatively equal to that of every other voter. In other words, each group of voters electing a representative should be of more or less the same size. Each voter would then have relatively the same say in electing a representative.

In Canada it is well accepted that, while the relative population size of constituencies is an important factor and probably the most important factor, there are other considerations to be taken into account.

In Dixon v. Attorney General of British Columbia (1989), 35 BCLR (2d) 273 at 293 Chief Justice McLachlin (as she then was) had this to say on provincial electoral boundaries:

... [O]nly those deviations [from equal population per member elected] should be admitted which can be justified on the ground that they contribute to better government of the populace and geographic factors within the territory governed. Geographic considerations affecting the servicing of a riding and regional interests meriting representation may fall in this category and hence be justifiable.

Generally, the factors other than population that should be taken into account in establishing electoral boundaries have to do with geographic barriers and connectors and the way people organize themselves into communities. The Planning Committee identified the important factors for the representation of B.C. lawyers within the Law Society:

• first and foremost, the number of lawyers practising in each district;

• historical and regional claims for representation, including where possible, separate representation of areas of significant lawyer population that have not traditionally elected a Bencher;

• the geographic size of each district, the distribution of members within the district and other factors affecting the representation of the district by a Bencher or Benchers;

• the community of interest of members, specifically the distinctiveness of urban, suburban and rural or small town practice;

• the organization of the courts, local bar associations, which affect communications among lawyers.

What disparities now exist?

In examining the adequacy of the present electoral boundaries for the election of Benchers, the first consideration is the relative lawyer population of the electoral districts.

The following table is based on figures accurate to August 14, 1992:

LAWYER POPULATION BY COUNTY

* This figure does not include members residing or practising out of province.

This table shows wide differences in the numbers of members per Bencher in the electoral districts. While some variation can certainly be justified by the geography of the province, the Benchers wish to alleviate the extent of the differences.

There are historical as well as geographical or regional reasons for the representation of the smaller population counties, and arguments for absolute equality in electoral representation have only limited application outside the context of government elections. There are also legitimate claims for additional Bencher representation in rural and remote regions.

The wide variations from the provincial average in Prince Rupert, Cariboo, Kootenay and Yale counties will be reduced if Benchers are simply added to other counties. For that reason, there is no proposal for changing the outer boundaries of these counties or changing the number of Benchers in them.

Adding Benchers to under-represented areas would create some additional expense to the Law Society — though the largest Bencher expense is travel to and from Vancouver, and the proposals put forward add only one Bencher outside the Lower Mainland. This consideration is off-set by the fact that members would enjoy better representation and the Society would benefit from additional volunteers to share an ever-increasing Bencher workload.

The number of elected Benchers has increased only 25 percent since 1955, while the number of lawyers in the province has increased by 545 percent over the same period.

After Ontario, B.C. now has the lowest per capita number of Benchers in Canada.

The Planning Committee option

In June, 1992 the Planning Committee summarized for the Benchers the current disparities in Bencher representation and the factors for consideration in a redistribution. The Committee outlined one package of electoral changes for consideration. The Committee recommended three boundary changes and an increase in the number of elected Benchers from 25 to 29, as follows:

• no change to the number of Benchers representing Prince Rupert, Cariboo, Kootenay, Yale and Nanaimo Counties;

• increasing representation in Victoria County from two Benchers to three;

• creating a new electoral district on the North Shore, with one Bencher

• transferring the City of Richmond from Vancouver Electoral District to Westminster Electoral District;

• creating a new Fraser Valley electoral district, with one Bencher, from the portion of Westminster County east of Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Surrey;

• allotting one additional Bencher to the County of Vancouver (for a total of 14); and

• requesting a legislative amendment to permit the appointment of an additional lay Bencher.

Benchers' proposal for change

In July, 1992 the Benchers discussed the Planning Committee report and asked the Committee to consider additional proposals. In October the Benchers received a revised report, which they decided to send to members for comment. The package incorporates some of the Committee's original recommendations and proposes additional electoral districts with more Bencher representatives. The package is explained below and summarized briefly on pages 5 and 6.

Kootenay and Prince Rupert

There are no proposed changes to the electoral districts of Kootenay and Prince Rupert, which have the smallest lawyer populations in the province and one Bencher representative each.

STEP 1
Divide Yale County into two electoral districts: Okanagan and Kamloops, each represented by one Bencher.

The County of Yale now has 431 lawyers and is represented by two Benchers. The number of members per Bencher is 215.5, or about 23% below the provincial average. If the total number of elected Benchers is increased to 30 or more, Yale County will be suitably near the provincial average.

One proposal is to divide Yale County into two electoral districts to ensure continued representation of both of its distinct north and south regions. Unfortunately, the lawyer population does not divide very equally on those grounds. The proposal is to separate the Okanagan, which has about 251 lawyers, from the rest of the County, including the City of Kamloops, where about 180 lawyers practise.

Cariboo

STEP 2
Divide Cariboo County into two electoral districts: Prince George and Cariboo, each represented by one Bencher.

The County of Cariboo has about 187 members within its boundaries, represented by two Benchers. This is an average number of lawyers per Bencher of 93.5, well below the provincial average.

Since over half of the lawyers in Cariboo County practise in the City of Prince George, the only practical way of dividing the County would be to make an electoral district of the City and another district from the remainder of the County.

This would have the advantage of ensuring that one Bencher from the present county comes from outside Prince George. That Bencher, however, would be required, without assistance, to represent an enormous area beginning at Lytton and Pemberton in the south and going to the Yukon and Northwest Territories border in the north, but excluding the one major centre in that area.

Victoria and Nanaimo

Victoria is now the most under-represented county with a population of about 701 lawyers and only two Benchers. Nanaimo, on the other hand, at 283 lawyers is about average at present. If there is to be a significant increase in the number of Benchers, the County of Nanaimo would also become under-represented.

Although the geography of the Island does not lend itself easily to dividing into one-Bencher electoral districts or districts that follow community boundaries, the Benchers have considered two options for a realignment.

STEP 3 (OPTION A)
Divide the Vancouver Island counties into three electoral districts: the City of Victoria, with two Benchers, and Malahat and Nanaimo, with one Bencher each.

In the City of Victoria there are approximately 545 lawyers. Making the City of Victoria a two-Bencher electoral district would achieve a ratio of one Bencher for 273 lawyers, a distinct improvement, though higher than the provincial average.

A second district would encompass the remainder of Victoria County, together with the present Nanaimo County from the boundary with Victoria north to include Ladysmith. That mid-Island region [proposed to be called Malahat] has about 209 lawyers.

The rest of Nanaimo County with some 230 lawyers, would be the third electoral district on the Island.

STEP 3 (OPTION B)
Divide the Vancouver Island Counties into three electoral districts: Downtown Victoria, with two Benchers, and Malahat and Nanaimo, with one Bencher each.

This is a variation of Option 3A, creating a two-Bencher Victoria electoral district encompassing downtown Victoria only (postal districts V8V and V8W). This would achieve a ratio of one Bencher for about 250 lawyers. That would leave the mid-Island electoral district [the Malahat region] with 258 lawyers and Nanaimo electoral district with 230.

Westminster

Westminster County is somewhat under-represented compared to the provincial average and is the fastest growing county in population. It is also very large geographically for an urban-suburban district. This means there are significantly large communities without local Bencher representation.

Part of Westminster County is close to Vancouver and is essentially a suburban community. But the County becomes more rural further east, and lawyers located in small towns are often engaged in a different form of practice.

The Benchers are considering a separate electoral district for the Fraser Valley, represented by one Bencher. In one option, Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge would be included in the Fraser Valley Electoral District. In a second option, they would be included in the same district as Coquitlam and New Westminster [see step 5 below].

STEP 4 (OPTION A)
Constitute a new electoral district of Fraser Valley [to include Pitt Meadows, Langley and all areas east in Westminster County], represented by one Bencher.

This new district would begin at the Pitt River, the boundary between Surrey and the two Langley municipalities and the part of the Fraser River that connects the two boundary lines.

STEP 4 (OPTION B)
Constitute a new electoral district of Fraser Valley [to include Mission, Langley and all areas east in Westminster County], represented by one Bencher.

Under this option, the new district would begin at the boundary between Maple-Ridge and Mission, the boundary between Surrey and the two Langley municipalities and the part of the Fraser River that connects the two boundary lines.

STEP 5 (OPTION A)
Constitute from parts of the Counties of Westminster and Vancouver the following two electoral districts: Surrey-Richmond-Delta and Westminster-Burnaby-Coquitlam, with two Benchers each.

The City of Richmond is now part of Vancouver County. Though Richmond has ties to Vancouver, the 151 lawyers in Richmond have relatively little voting power in the county and also share many similarities to the suburban practice of Westminster County. Both these factors favour a realignment.

Westminster County [without the Fraser Valley] and Richmond together have a lawyer population of about 830 or 855 [depending on whether Option A or B of step 4 above were adopted.]

Option 5A would combine Burnaby, New Westminster, Coquitlam and possibly Maple Ridge and Port Moody in a two-Bencher electoral district, with about 400 or 425 lawyers, and would combine Richmond, Delta, Surrey and White Rock in another two-Bencher district with about 429 lawyers.

STEP 5 (OPTION B)
Constitute from parts of the Counties of Westminster and Vancouver three new electoral districts: Westminster-Burnaby-Coquitlam, with two Benchers, and Richmond-Delta and Surrey-White Rock, with one Bencher each.

This option would keep the Westminster-Burnaby-Coquitlam district but divide the southern party into Richmond-Delta (231) and Surrey-White Rock (198).

STEP 5 (OPTION C)
Constitute from parts of the Counties of Vancouver and Westminster four new electoral districts: Richmond-Delta, Surrey-White Rock, Westminster-Coquitlam and Burnaby, with one Bencher each.

This option would further divide the northern area into New Westminster-Coquitlam (214 or 240 lawyers) and the City of Burnaby (186).

Vancouver

STEP 6
Constitute a new electoral district of North Vancouver represented by one Bencher.

The County of Vancouver can be divided into three distinct regions, with these approximate lawyer populations:

With over 90 percent of the lawyer population, the City of Vancouver tends to dominate the County over the Richmond and North Shore, even though these areas have a significant number of lawyers.

Like Richmond, the North Shore arguably has a different community of interest from the City of Vancouver by the suburban nature of legal practice. With 257 lawyers, the North Shore and surrounding area is almost as large in population as Nanaimo County and larger than three other counties, including one county with two Benchers.

The North Shore — including the Sunshine Coast and the Squamish-Whistler area — could accordingly be severed from the County of Vancouver, named North Vancouver Electoral District and allotted one Bencher.

What then remains is an electoral district of the City of Vancouver and the University Endowment Lands. The lawyer population of that area is about 3900 or 56% of all lawyers in B.C.

There are two key issues to decide in achieving equitable representation in this electoral district:

1. How many Benchers should Vancouver be allotted?

The impact of allotting additional Benchers to Vancouver is described in step 7, options A to D below.

2. Should Vancouver be broken down further into new electoral districts?

This issue is described in Step 8, options A and B below.

STEP 7 (OPTION A)
Allot Vancouver Electoral District 18 Benchers.

The proposals to this point, if adopted, would result in the election of 16 Benchers outside of Vancouver. It is arguable that the City of Vancouver, with slightly over half of the lawyer population, should have slightly over half of the elected Benchers. The present County of Vancouver, with 62% of the lawyers in British Columbia has 52% of the elected Benchers.

If Vancouver Electoral District were allotted 18 Benchers it would have about 53% of the 34 total elected Benchers. That would make the lawyer-Bencher ratio in Vancouver 216.7 or 5.42% above the provincial average of 205.5.

STEP 7 (OPTION B)
Allot Vancouver Electoral District 17 Benchers.

If Vancouver Electoral District were allotted 17 Benchers it would have at 52.5% of the 33 elected Benchers. That would make the lawyer-Bencher ratio in Vancouver 229.4 or 8.34% above the provincial average of 211.8.

STEP 7 (OPTION C)
Allot Vancouver Electoral District 16 Benchers.

The result of the City of Vancouver having exactly half of the elected Benchers, 16 out of 32, would be a lawyer to Bencher ratio of 243.8 which would be 11.6% above the provincial average of 218.54.

STEP 7 (OPTION D)
Allot Vancouver Electoral District 15 Benchers.

With 15 of 32 Benchers, Vancouver would have a lawyer to Bencher ratio of 260, higher than any other electoral district.

STEP 8 (OPTION A)
Divide the City of Vancouver and constitute a separate electoral district outside the downtown, with three Benchers.

According to a postal code breakdown, there are about 3,117 lawyers in downtown Vancouver (west of Carroll Street). In the rest of the City there are about 783.

Option 8A is intended to recognize the often significant differences in the practice of large and medium-size law firms, compared to the practice of small firms or sole practitioners, and the fact that areas of the City outside the downtown core now have little local Bencher representation.

STEP 8 (OPTION B)
Divide the City of Vancouver into three electoral districts: Downtown Vancouver, Vancouver West, represented by two Benchers, and Vancouver East, represented by one Bencher.

This alternative would create three electoral districts in the City: the downtown (west of Carroll), the region west of Cambie Street (528 lawyers) and the region that is east of Cambie and east of Carroll downtown (255 lawyers).

STEP 9
Request an amendment to section 6 of the Legal Profession Act to permit the appointment of an additional Lay Bencher.

With an increase in the number of elected Benchers, an additional Lay Bencher would ensure the influence of the Lay Benchers is not diluted.

Summary of proposed changes

Please let us hear your comments, concerns and suggestions on the proposed changes to Bencher electoral districts, by writing to:

Planning Committee
The Law Society of British Columbia
8th Floor – 845 Cambie Street
Vancouver, B.C. V6B 4Z9
FAX: 669-5232

If you have questions or would like more information, please contact Jeff Hoskins, Director of Research and Planning at 669-2533. A copy of the full report of the Planning Committee can also be obtained by contacting Sylvia Habisch at the Law Society office.

The counties of B.C.: current Bencher electoral districts

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