What are 'wards' and do B.C. cities have them?

Do BC cities have wards? For the most part, nope. During a municipal election, which elects a new mayor and council, a ward system organizes candidates by neighborhood. It's a bit like a provincial or federal riding. Wards are used in most other big Canadian cities, like Toronto. But almost no BC cities, not even Vancouver or Surrey, use a ward system. In fact, Vancouver is the biggest city in Canada that doesn't use wards. Only one BC municipality has wards, Lake Country. Yep, that district of about 15,000 between Kelowna and Vernon. In Lake Country, there's four neighborhoods that each elect their own councillor. And then there's two councillors and a mayor that are elected citywide. Some people like ward systems because it can shorten the list of names on a ballot. It can also increase representation in some neighborhoods. But other people say that concentrating votes geographically means that certain neighborhood issues are overrepresented and don't meet the city's needs as a whole. What would you rather? Voting for a candidate repping your neighborhood or your entire city? Follow CBC News BC for more information on the upcoming local elections.