Chilliwack-Fraser Canyon MP Mark Strahl said he was happy the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission listened to constituents and kept the city in a single riding in its report tabled in Parliament on Monday.

"While these maps are not yet finalized, the commission obviously took the views of the people of Chilliwack very seriously when making these revisions," Strahl told the Times via email. "I am very happy that it appears as though the District of Chilliwack will remain united in one riding, as it has been in the past.

"I want to thank everyone in Chilliwack who took the time to let their views be known, and the Commissioners for listening to them."

Every 10 years, federal electoral districts are examined and redrawn based on census numbers to ensure each riding has approximately the same population.

A first draft map in the summer saw the northern edge of the already-expansive Chilliwack-Fraser Canyon riding expand even farther north into the Cariboo while the western edge moved east dividing Chilliwack in half.

At that time, Strahl expressed concern that, for example, residents of Promontory would be in a different riding than those in Garrison Crossing.

"Certainly an argument could be made that the neighbourhood of Promontory has more in common with the neighbourhood of Garrison Crossing than it does with 100 Mile House," Strahl said in an August 2012 press release.

The commission held a number of public meetings and garnered feedback, which affected the final maps.

"The final configuration of electoral districts throughout British Columbia has been greatly influenced by submissions and presentations from the public," commission chair John E. Hall said in a press release.

The new riding, called Chilliwack-Hope, will exclude the Squamish-Lillooet and Thompson-Nicola areas, which include the communities of Pemberton, Ashcroft and Lillooet.

Also excluded is the entire Fraser Canyon and, because the Fraser River forms part of the electoral boundary, Harrison Hot Springs and the District of Kent, which will now be in the Mission-Matsqui-Fraser Canyon riding.

phenderson@chilliwacktimes.com