Central Alberta ridings changed in tabled federal electoral map

Central Alberta’s rides would look slightly different under a potential new federal election map.

On Thursday, the report from the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Alberta, outlining proposed changes to the province’s electoral map, was presented in the House of Commons.

The report, which was sent to the Speaker of the House of Representatives through the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada, will be considered by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Procedures and Affairs of the House of Commons.

There are currently two rides that feature the City of Red Deer: Red Deer-Lacombe and Red Deer-Mountain View.

Under the newly submitted electoral map, there would be a single Red Deer ride that would also include the town of Penhold, the villages of Delburne and Elnora, and part of Red Deer County. The population of this riding arena is 115,044.

The new Ponoka-Didsbury ride would house the town of Lacombe and the towns of Bentley, Bowden, Didsbury, Eckville, Innisfail, Olds, Ponoka, Rimbey and Sylvan Lake. This also includes the villages of Alix and Clive and the summer villages of Birchcliff, Gull Lake, Half Moon Bay, Jarvis Bay, Norglenwold, Parkland Beach and Sunbreaker Cove. This riding would also include portions of Mountain View County, Ponoka County, and Red Deer County, as well as all of Lacombe County.

Part of Ponoka County would also be within the Leduc-Wetaskiwin ride. Rocky Mountain House, Caroline and Sundre would be within the Jasper-Banff-Canmore ride. The Battle River crowfoot would also include communities in central Alberta, including Stettler, Trochu, and Three Hills.

The Commission was tasked with proposing new borders that would preserve the equality of populations while taking into account social and geographic factors, including respect for communities of interest or identities and historical patterns of previous borders.

These criteria, along with the input and public feedback gathered at public hearings between September 6 and October 14, all fed into the report submitted to the House of Commons.

“Following a review of the submissions received, the commission reviewed many of the election boundaries,” said Judge Bruce McDonald, chair of the three-member commission.

“The Commission is satisfied that it has struck a fair balance on the criteria for reallocating Alberta’s 37 constituencies. Given the size, shape and character of each constituency, the Commission is satisfied that fair and effective representation has been achieved in each constituency.”

According to the timetable of the relocation process, February to May will be a time to hear objections from MPs. The Commission will review these objections in May-June and prepare a deputy decree for September.

To view the report and for more information on the next steps in the redistribution process, visit www.redistribution2022.ca.

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