News release

Richmond, Delta residents join Assembly

British Columbia’s Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform welcomed eight new members Wednesday night, bringing the member count to 138.

They are:

Their names were drawn at random at a public meeting in Richmond. An additional 20 members will be selected at three meetings in Vancouver over the next six days. Selection began October 14th in Fort St. John, where the names of the first four Assembly members were drawn.

Merrick is a coordinator with the Delta School District, providing career development options to students. She has three grown children and enjoys gardening. Skovgaard, 62, is a lead hand in a pre-cast concrete plant. He is married with two children, aged 19 and 21.

Zhang, 50, is a health-care worker. He enjoys reading, studying and problem-solving. Barakat is a travel agent, interested in drawing, sewing and travel. She is married with two children and one grandson.

Fader, a widow, is a fundraiser and promoter, committed to community service. She has been editor of the Greater Vancouver Jewish Telephone Directory for the past 20 years. Peterson is a professional engineer with an interest in green energy technologies. He is married with two children and enjoys reading, gourmet cooking and golf.

Tyler, 22, is pursuing a career in law. He just completed a Bachelor’s degree in human kinetics and currently works as a bartender. Krenz, 57, works in the food services industry for Compass. She has been married 35 years, has three children and enjoys her grandchildren.

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.