The Electoral District Boundaries Commission is required by the Elections Act to review the existing electoral districts established under the Electoral District Boundaries Act and to make proposals to the legislative assembly as to the boundaries, number, and names of the electoral districts of the Yukon.

The purpose of the review is to ensure the people of the Yukon have effective representation in the assembly.

The interim report released last Friday sets out proposed changes to 17 of the 19 electoral district boundaries.

“Some of the proposed changes are very small; others are significant. All of these changes are to help ensure voters in the Yukon are effectively represented,” the report says.

No change is proposed to the total number of districts.

“Given the average number of approximately 2,400 people in each electoral district, and a review of the other factors to be considered, 19 districts are sufficient to ensure effective representation,” the commission says.

It proposes to consult with Yukoners on the names of the revised electoral districts.

The new names used in the interim report are placeholder names until consultations are complete.

The current Yukon electoral district boundaries have not changed since 2008 and have been used over the last three elections: 2011, 2016 and 2021.

“Between 2008 and 2024, significant population growth has occurred in the Yukon, especially in Whitehorse,” the report notes.

“The changes the commission is proposing are in part a result of this unprecedented growth.

“As well, the commission proposes to address other long-standing issues of effective representation, explained below.”

Canadian law has established a way of determining an appropriate number of voters in each electoral district for the purpose of effective representation.

The total number of voters in a territory or province is divided by the number of electoral districts in that territory or province.

The resulting number is the average number of voters for each district.

The law in Canada has accepted generally that each electoral district’s number of voters that is within 25 per cent of the average number of voters is sufficient to meet the standard of effective representation.

To explain this numerically: the current number of electors in the Yukon is 31,655, and 31,655 divided by 19 is 1,666.

“Twenty-five per cent on either side of 1,666 results is an acceptable range of numbers in each electoral district from 1,250 on the low end to 2,082 on the high end,” the report says.

“The commission adopted this approach in its analysis.”

Updated information from Elec-tions Yukon about numbers of voters, and from the Yukon Bureau of Statistics about population numbers continues to be gathered.

“By the time of the release of the final report, the average number of voters in each electoral district in the Yukon is likely to be changed as a result of this updated information.”

If the number of voters in an electoral district is fewer than 1,250, the people in the electoral district are considered to be overrepresented.

“That is, it is disproportionate for that number of constituents to be represented by one MLA,” the report says.

“Conversely, if the number of electors in an electoral district is over 2,082, the people in the electoral district are considered to be underrepresented; that is, it is not sufficient for that number of people to be represented by only one MLA.”

Currently, 11 of the 19 electoral districts in the Yukon have numbers of voters outside of the 25-per-cent variance.

Five districts outside of White-horse are overrepresented, while five districts within Whitehorse are underrepresented.

“No other province or territory in Canada has such a large proportion of electoral districts with numbers of voters outside of the 25 per cent variance,” the report says.

“Many jurisdictions in Canada have average variances much lower than 25 per cent.”

Of the current 19 electoral districts, eight are outside of Whitehorse and 11 are within Whitehorse.

The commission proposes six electoral districts to represent people outside of Whitehorse and 13 electoral districts to represent people within Whitehorse.

The redistribution of voters as a result of the proposed changes means that only two of the proposed electoral districts will be outside of the 25-per-cent variance:

Mayo-Tatchun (current name)/Yukon Centre (placeholder name) and Whistle Bend North (new).

It’s anticipated that within the next year or so, the population of Whistle Bend North will grow sufficiently to bring it within the 25-per-cent variance.

Within Whitehorse, the proposed additional two electoral districts are to provide representation to Whistle Bend residents.

The boundaries of the remaining 11 Whitehorse electoral districts are proposed to be adjusted to balance existing populations and anticipated future growth.