News release

Lower Mainland residents join Assembly

Port Coquitlam – British Columbia’s Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform brought its membership to 82 with the selection of eight new members Tuesday night.

They are:

Their names were drawn at random at a public meeting in Port Coquitlam.   An additional 76 members will be selected at meetings in the Lower Mainland, Victoria and the Sunshine Coast over the next three weeks.  Selection began October 14th in Fort St. John, where the names of the first four Assembly members were drawn. 

Ridewood, 31, is a grade seven teacher at Golden Ears Elementary. She is married and enjoys reading, camping and outdoor recreation. Phillips, 58, is a senior technical specialist, working with mainframe computers. He is married as well and enjoys photography, wildlife and classic automobiles.

Beyer is a retired sales coordinator for Fletcher Challenge. He is 76, married with four children and eight grandchildren and is a keen bowler, curler and golfer. He is active in the Lions Club and the White Cane Club for the visually impaired. Hsu, 57, is an accounting assistant as well as an avid gardener and cook. She is married with three children and one grandson.

Walters, 62, is a retired RN, a former supervisor for home support workers and the mother of two, step-mother of four and grandmother of nine. She enjoys gardening, reading, yoga and fitness. Stanger, 39, is a director at the Fraser Health Authority who is currently working on a master’s degree in health administration at the University of British Columbia. He is engaged to be married and enjoys bluegrass music.

Yee is a 38 year old chiropractor and past president of the BC College of Chiropractors. He is married with three children. Beuk, 43, is a collections representative for Sears Canada and is married with three daughters. Her interests include coaching and playing softball.

The Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform is an independent, non-partisan group of British Columbians randomly selected from communities around the province to review the way we elect our provincial political representatives.  This process is unique in Canadian history; never has such a representative group of citizens played such a vital role in shaping the electoral process. 

By November 25th, the Assembly will have 158 members from all over B.C. – one man and one woman from each of the 79 provincial electoral districts.  Beginning in January, the Assembly will spend much of 2004 examining electoral systems used around the world and will decide if they should propose a change to B.C.’s current system of translating votes into seats in the Legislature.

If Assembly members recommend a change, B.C. voters will decide in a referendum on May 17, 2005, the date of the next provincial election.  Any change approved by the voters would take effect with the 2009 B.C. election.