In addition to concerns about boundaries and size of individual ridings, the commission was criticized for shifting seats to the Lower Mainland (which was growing in population) and away from larger but less-populated areas (BC has traditionally given some electoral weight to vast but relatively underpopulated regions without large urban centres, particularly in the north).
The commission held subsequent hearings and, in February 2008, submitted 50 amendments to its preliminary report.
[2] Because of the concern of both parties about the loss of seats in the North and Cariboo, the Commission also reported on the 85-seat map it would have designed if the legislature had passed an amendment requiring this.
The 2008 provincial election in neighbouring Alberta served as a reminder to BC of the "unfinished business" looming ahead.
In response, the Vancouver Sun described BC's indecision over boundaries as "a significant hitch (that) has developed in the electoral boundary reform process that was to have illustrated how an STV system would carve up the province...Unless members of the legislature are able to forge a compromise that will rescue the politically unpalatable recommendations of the Electoral Boundaries Commission, voters will face another vote on whether to change the system while still uncertain as to how it will look in their home communities.