ST. ALBERT - St. Albert will split from northwest Edmonton and join a number of rural municipalities when redrawn federal electoral district boundaries come into effect April 2024.
It’s part of a change that will give Alberta three more seats in the House of Commons (a new total of 37 seats, up from the current 34), make Edmonton’s federal electoral districts completely urban and add a new Calgary riding.
Redistribution happens every 10 years and is guided by an independent electoral boundaries commission whose aim is to make the province’s electoral ridings roughly equal population-wise and unite communities with shared interests.
The St. Albert-Sturgeon River riding will cover Sturgeon County and most of Lac Ste. Anne County, reaching west to Sangudo, east to Redwater, north to Legal and south to Big Lake. It joins St. Albert with other historically francophone communities such as Morinville and Legal.
MP for St. Albert-Edmonton Michael Cooper said he believes the commission did a good job, and looks forward to campaigning in the new riding should the next federal election take place after the change in April 2024.
“There are strong ties between St. Albert, Sturgeon County, Legal, Bon Accord, Gibbons,” he said.
“I will certainly be taking time to reach out and engage and build connections … I will miss representing a good part of northwest Edmonton as I have for the past eight years.”
Currently Sturgeon County falls into the Sturgeon River-Parkland riding led by MP Dane Lloyd. Lloyd served as Cooper’s parliamentary assistant before Lloyd was elected Surgeon River-Parkland MP in 2017.
Cooper said he plans to work with Lloyd to connect with mayors and other community leaders in the St. Albert-Sturgeon River riding, while Lloyd will run in the new Parkland riding if the next election happens after April 2024.
St. Albert Mayor Cathy Heron said although she doubts the change will affect which way the riding goes in the next election, she feels St. Albert has more in common with the north side of Edmonton than with some of the areas in the new electoral district.
But more important for Heron was the name of the riding. A proposed map released last year called the riding Sturgeon River, a change Heron felt overlooked the fact that St. Albertans make up roughly 58 per cent of the area’s population. Her office successfully petitioned the commission to include St. Albert in the name.
“We want people, when they go to the polls, to associate the riding with where they live,” Heron said.
A map of the current and redrawn ridings is available on the commission’s website.
