The division between the two provincial constituencies that divide St. Albert should remain as is, suggests the final report issued Thursday by the Electoral Boundaries Commission.
Currently, most of the city is within the St. Albert constituency. The exception is the northwest corner, as defined by McKenney Avenue and St. Albert Trail, which is in Spruce Grove–Sturgeon–St. Albert.
The commission is recommending these division lines remain intact. This is a reversal of a recommendation it made in February, when it suggested the St. Albert riding should gain the Lacombe Park neighbourhood but lose Erin Ridge.
That idea raised the eyebrows of both local MLAs and their constituency associations. Now, with the status quo being endorsed, both are breathing easier.
“I endorse it 100 per cent,” said St. Albert MLA Ken Allred said. “If you look at the numbers, it makes sense. If you look at the geography, it makes sense.”
In the spring of 2009, Alberta’s legislature voted in favour of adding four constituencies to account for Alberta’s growth. Among the commission’s goals was to define the boundaries such that the population within most electoral divisions is within 25 per cent of the provincial average of 40,880, while adhering to municipal and natural boundaries as much as possible.
The commission is recommending a slight adjustment to the St. Albert constituency that would see it gain a sparsely populated pie-shaped area north of Big Lake, land the city annexed from Sturgeon County in 2007.
The only other recommended change to the local ridings is the renaming of Spruce Grove-Sturgeon-St. Albert to Spruce Grove-St. Albert.
MLA Doug Horner, who represents this area, was glad the commission retreated on its split of St. Albert, otherwise he would have had St. Albert’s high growth areas of North Ridge and Erin Ridge.
“I also have a high area of growth in Spruce Grove,” he noted.
The City of St. Albert had suggested to the commission that the Sturgeon River and Highway 2 are natural boundaries that could be used as dividing lines, but Mayor Nolan Crouse said he’s fine with the status quo.
“If it’s not going to change, I’m OK with that,” Crouse said. “For us it wasn’t a hill to die on.”
The commission is recommending a new riding in Edmonton’s southwest, the splitting of Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo into two ridings and two new ridings in Calgary.
MLAs will debate and vote on the recommendations during the fall session.
The commission requested feedback after releasing its interim report Feb. 24 and received more than 500 written submissions and heard 117 presentations from individuals and groups. One of the main messages heard was, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” said chair Judge Ernest Walter.
Opposition parties charge that the process has been rife with political influence but commission members say they gave more weight to “disinterested” submissions than those from members of caucus or constituency associations.
