Provincial electoral districts were first created in British Columbia in I869. At that time the criteria used to determine the ridings on the mainland were the existing mining division boundaries and on Vancouver Island the land district boundaries. Since 1869 many different sets of constituency boundaries have been used in the province. At all times the government has attempted to give the more settled areas the greatest number of electoral seats and yet provide each region of the province with legislative representation. Since electoral ridings were initiated, however, there has not been a stated policy by which the legislature has determined new constituency boundaries. In certain instances areal size has been the determining factor in deliniation, whereas in other cases electoral numbers were used. In 1965 the ratio of voting numbers between the largest constituency and the smallest was in excess of twenty-five votes to one. It was therefore believed that a major revision of British Columbia's electoral boundaries was due. There are three major methods by which new political boundaries may be determined; these being representation by population, by area, and by community of interest. Each method has certain qualities and liabilities. Representation by population is considered the best method of boundary delineation because the votes of all persons are then of equal weight. Since British Columbia contains such an uneven population distribution many constituencies created by employing this principle would be too large in area to be served effectively by one representative. As well, many urban constituencies would be extremely small. Therefore the thesis concluded that this method of boundary determination was not suitable for British Columbia. Representation by area was not considered to be practical for many ridings would contain only a few hundred voters while others over one hundred thousand. Therefore, representation by community of interest appeared to be the best method of determining legislative constituency boundaries. In this system the under-populated areas of the province would have few electoral representatives. Using this method of deliniation each riding would contain persons affected by similar problems and sharing common interests. Community of Interest regions were determined by isolating all territory which is primarily dependent upon a central settlement. Throughout British Columbia large settlements exist which serve the economic and social needs of the surrounding urban and rural population. The thesis recommended I that such regions would make good provincial constituencies since the rural and urban areas would have equal interest in both local affairs and development. To determine the sphere of influence surrounding each large settlement an examination of services provided by various sized communities was undertaken in order to determine which services were offered only by the larger nucleations. As this method of analysis was not applicable in the Lower Mainland area a study of shopping patterns and community activities was used as a basis for boundary determination. Each of these areas of common interest became the basis for the recommended urban constituencies. As a potential political instrument the value of a new set of electoral boundaries lies in the result which its employment would achieve. Using the 1963 provincial election statistics in the proposed constituencies, the results would have changed the political party representation in the legislature very little. Therefore more equable districts could be adopted without a shift in political party strength. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

The purpose of this thesis is to critically examine elements of public participation in environmental decision-making and to propose that public participation processes may be made more meaningful through the provision of comprehensive and flexible procedural mechanisms coupled with a true ability to affect the outcome of the process, rather than through simply granting more rights. Over the years, natural resources management has grown as a response to ecological concerns over the state and future of our environment. The law too, has developed to accommodate environmental concerns and define legal rights and procedures. Public participation becomes a vehicle for ensuring that affected interests are taken into account in environmental decision-making. In Chapter 1, the established and traditional means of involving the public in environmental decision-making such as litigation and public hearings are examined; however, they have been characterized as too restrictive, not only in terms of the parties who are included, but also the issues. Furthermore, agency administration of complex resource management issues has fuelled public discontent, as many groups understand it is an inherently political process and doubt its legitimacy. In exploring this phenomenon, this paper is first placed in a theoretical context, drawing upon ecological, legal, and ethical philosophies. However, it is also informed by the perspectives of local environmental groups and residents. The turn to other techniques, or Alternative Dispute Resolution, may seem a logical and appropriate evolution, suggesting ways for all affected parties to be involved. Chapter 2 reviews different forms of Alternative Dispute Resolution which provide some principles about the use of mediation and agreements to supplement the regulatory processes of resource management. It is important to consider the mediation process itself, the desire to remedy what is considered to be the failings of the traditional adversarial system, the psychological dynamics of the process, and the parameters for successful negotiations leading to implementation. Chapter 3 commences with an analysis of the legal context of public participation in British Columbia. It determines the discretionary authority of the administrative agencies, and the formal window of opportunity for public input, under the (federal) Canadian Environmental Assessment Act and the (provincial) British Columbia Environmental Assessment Act. This chapter also discusses an additional and interesting vehicle for public participation, although not yet implemented in British Columbia - the Environmental Bill of Rights. Chapter 4 provides a more concrete setting for the use of public participation processes, through the use of a case study - the British Columbia Transit Sky Train Extension Project. The "NIMBY", or "Not In My Backyard" scenario involved has the potential to facilitate negotiation; however, real inroads will be made through improving existing legal avenues of participation such as consultation. In fact, this key concern has been the sore point with respect to the Sky Train Project for many residents of Vancouver. In conclusion, the utility of public participation processes expressed in environmental legislation is reliant not only upon the ability of the law to be flexible enough to serve the various natural resource interests of all stakeholders, but also to be conducted in a manner that is inclusory and substantive. / Law, Peter A. Allard School of / Graduate

The Metropolitan Vancouver Region is expected to have a population of over 3.3 million within the next 25 years. As a designated growth concentration area, the City of Vancouver is expected to absorb 160,000 people by 2021. While existing plans will allow for future high density developments, 70% of the City's residential areas remain zoned explicitly for single-family use. The intensification of these single-family neighbourhoods is viewed as a way of using the existing housing stock and the existing residential land more efficiently. The intensification techniques that are appropriate for single-family neighbourhoods include: conversion, infill and redevelopment. Planners think that intensification efforts will not only alleviate some of the detrimental impacts of sprawl, but will also provide a more diversified housing stock that will be more appropriate for the needs of an increasingly complex society. Unfortunately, some existing residents have been extremely vocal in opposition to any intensification efforts in their neighbourhoods. The residents claim that any intensification will disrupt the character of their existing single-family neighbourhoods. While the arguments for retaining exclusive single-family neighbourhoods are specious at best, the NIMBY mentality of residents has often proved to be an effective form of opposition to intensification efforts. An approach for overcoming the NIMBY syndrome is a successful program of community outreach. Community outreach attempts to minimize community opposition and to rally support for the development within the community. Attention is focused on the residents who have not already become opponents of the development. A successful community outreach program will limit residents' factual misunderstandings and their exaggerated fears about the project's potential impacts. Negotiations should be undertaken with residents who are willing to compromise; residents who refuse to talk cooperatively should not be brought into the problem-solving process. Future plans for intensification must establish a sense of certainty in the way a neighbourhood will change. The exaggerated sense of fear that residents have about the potential changes in their neighbourhood is the biggest obstacle to overcome if the Metropolitan Vancouver Region is to successfully implement an intensification program into existing single-family neighbourhoods.

This paper examines the plight of the incarcerated mentally ill. After a consideration of the historical factors which have contributed to the current philosophy and pattern of services throughout North America, and specifically in British Columbia, the paper reports on a qualitative study using participant observation, informal and formal interviews, and Strauss' Constant Comparative Methods which was undertaken to identify the needs of the mentally ill individuals who are serving a term of imprisonment in the Health Care Centre of the Lower Mainland Regional Correctional Centre. Altogether there were eighteen formal participants. They included six mentally ill offenders, six correctional personnel, and six health care professionals. A critical analysis of the major findings -alienation, lack of organizational commitment, and the incongruencies between our social policies and practices - provided the basis for program recommendations. The challenge lies in the building of a vision that values humane treatment for the marginal members of our society. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

The Metropolitan Vancouver Region is expected to have a population of over 3.3 million within the next 25 years. As a designated growth concentration area, the City of Vancouver is expected to absorb 160,000 people by 2021. While existing plans will allow for future high density developments, 70% of the City's residential areas remain zoned explicitly for single-family use. The intensification of these single-family neighbourhoods is viewed as a way of using the existing housing stock and the existing residential land more efficiently. The intensification techniques that are appropriate for single-family neighbourhoods include: conversion, infill and redevelopment. Planners think that intensification efforts will not only alleviate some of the detrimental impacts of sprawl, but will also provide a more diversified housing stock that will be more appropriate for the needs of an increasingly complex society. Unfortunately, some existing residents have been extremely vocal in opposition to any intensification efforts in their neighbourhoods. The residents claim that any intensification will disrupt the character of their existing single-family neighbourhoods. While the arguments for retaining exclusive single-family neighbourhoods are specious at best, the NIMBY mentality of residents has often proved to be an effective form of opposition to intensification efforts. An approach for overcoming the NIMBY syndrome is a successful program of community outreach. Community outreach attempts to minimize community opposition and to rally support for the development within the community. Attention is focused on the residents who have not already become opponents of the development. A successful community outreach program will limit residents' factual misunderstandings and their exaggerated fears about the project's potential impacts. Negotiations should be undertaken with residents who are willing to compromise; residents who refuse to talk cooperatively should not be brought into the problem-solving process. Future plans for intensification must establish a sense of certainty in the way a neighbourhood will change. The exaggerated sense of fear that residents have about the potential changes in their neighbourhood is the biggest obstacle to overcome if the Metropolitan Vancouver Region is to successfully implement an intensification program into existing single-family neighbourhoods. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

In the 1980s, very large houses began to replace smaller homes in older single-family zones in Canada's major cities. Protests by residents resulted in more restrictive single - family zoning schedules. In Vancouver, however, houses built as large as zoning permitted had appeared in the late 1960s. This case study traces Vancouver's single- family land use from 1900 to 1990. The intent of Vancouver's original single- family zoning (1930) was to create a suburban landscape. To appeal to European immigrants of the 1950sand Asian immigrants of the 1970s, Vancouver's east-side builders developed a distinctive large house easily converted to include one or more illegal suites. By encouraging this design, zoning amendments in 1974 destroyed the sub-urban pattern intended by the original zoning. In response to affluent Asian immigrants of the 1980s, westside builders constructed larger, more elaborate homes. The city reacted to complaints about the size and design of these houses by amending its schedule in the 1980s to legalize suites, to reduce the bulkiness of new construction and to re-establish the suburban pattern. Local residents do not like the new homes, and many neither need nor can afford them. The research indicates that Asian buyers are outbidding locals for these homes, and locals are dispersing to peripheral areas where homes are more affordable and styles support their cultural traditions. The research suggests that the more compact land use pattern of the 1900s may be more appropriate than land use patterns that have resulted from the city’s original and amended single-family schedule. The research concludes that Vancouver addressed symptoms of the problem but not its cause: a zoning practice that continues to exclude the less affluent from single-family zones. Vancouver needs to espouse a more inclusionary zoning schedule that adopts the compact land use and mixed tenures typical before zoning and preserves the traditions of local residents. Other-wise, the zoning changes may preserve single- family areas for affluent immigrants as the Vancouver market aligns itself with the global market.

In the 1980s, very large houses began to replace smaller homes in older single-family zones in Canada's major cities. Protests by residents resulted in more restrictive single - family zoning schedules. In Vancouver, however, houses built as large as zoning permitted had appeared in the late 1960s. This case study traces Vancouver's single- family land use from 1900 to 1990. The intent of Vancouver's original single- family zoning (1930) was to create a suburban landscape. To appeal to European immigrants of the 1950sand Asian immigrants of the 1970s, Vancouver's east-side builders developed a distinctive large house easily converted to include one or more illegal suites. By encouraging this design, zoning amendments in 1974 destroyed the sub-urban pattern intended by the original zoning. In response to affluent Asian immigrants of the 1980s, westside builders constructed larger, more elaborate homes. The city reacted to complaints about the size and design of these houses by amending its schedule in the 1980s to legalize suites, to reduce the bulkiness of new construction and to re-establish the suburban pattern. Local residents do not like the new homes, and many neither need nor can afford them. The research indicates that Asian buyers are outbidding locals for these homes, and locals are dispersing to peripheral areas where homes are more affordable and styles support their cultural traditions. The research suggests that the more compact land use pattern of the 1900s may be more appropriate than land use patterns that have resulted from the city’s original and amended single-family schedule. The research concludes that Vancouver addressed symptoms of the problem but not its cause: a zoning practice that continues to exclude the less affluent from single-family zones. Vancouver needs to espouse a more inclusionary zoning schedule that adopts the compact land use and mixed tenures typical before zoning and preserves the traditions of local residents. Other-wise, the zoning changes may preserve single- family areas for affluent immigrants as the Vancouver market aligns itself with the global market. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate