The City of Regina is looking into changes to ward boundaries as the population continues to grow.
The population has increased by six per cent since the boundaries were last changed. Legislation requires cities to review ward boundaries every third election, or when the population grows significantly.
The boundaries were changed slightly in 2014 ahead of the 2016 municipal election, but there has been a major population spike since then. Ward 2, which contains Harbour Landing, has grown by 29 per cent and Ward 4 in the east end has grown around 14 per cent. Wards have to be within 10 per cent below or above the average population.
Changes to the boundaries haven’t been confirmed yet, but the municipal ward commission says most residents won’t see a huge impact from any changes that go through.
“Most people will likely remain in their existing wards,” commission member Jim Nicol said. “However, because of the changes basically everything is moving around, perhaps with the exception of two wards, what that means is next year, people understand where they vote."
Some councillors are concerned the proposed changes will mean starting from scratch with people in their wards.
“I’m happy to have Walsh Acres back, but I’m sad to see — if this does go through — that I’d lose Uplands,” Ward 10 councillor Jerry Flegel said. “I’ve created a lot of good networks with people, done a lot of good work in that area, as councillor Bryant has with Regent Park.”
Ward 3 councillor Andrew Stevens would lose three areas - downtown, Heritage and Lake View - if the proposed changes pass.
