Skip to content

New Morinville-St. Albert riding captures rural and urban residents

With no incumbent vying for a seat in the newly drawn provincial riding of Morinville-St. Albert, each of the six candidates has a shot at securing the seat in the new constituency.
1004 mor-StA sup2

With no incumbent vying for a seat in the newly drawn provincial riding of Morinville-St. Albert, each of the six candidates has a shot at securing the seat in the new constituency.

NDP candidate Natalie Birnie, UCP candidate Dale Nally, Alberta Party Candidate Neil Korotash, Alberta Green Party candidate Cass Romyn, Alberta Independence party candidate Mike van Velzen and Alberta Advantage Party candidate Tamara Krywiak are all facing off for the new seat.

The riding was formed in 2017 when the provincial boundaries were redrawn to accommodate population growth over the last 10 years. The winner of this year’s election will be the first MLA to represent the new riding.

During the last two elections, the city of St. Albert was split, with the west portion of the city joining with Spruce Grove to create the Spruce Grove-St. Albert riding. In the last provincial term, the city was served by St. Albert MLA Renaud and Spruce Grove-St. Albert MLA Trevor Horne.

An interim report on electoral boundaries proposed the northern portion of St. Albert become part of St. Albert-Redwater riding that extended north east out to Smokey Lake. After collecting feedback on the report, the Electoral Boundaries Commission decided to join a portion of St. Albert with Morinville to create the Morinville-St. Albert riding.

"This change responds to numerous public submissions suggesting that the culture and residents of Morinville are more akin to those of St. Albert, enjoying the same Francophone roots, than they are to the residents of Spruce Grove. It would end the much-criticized design of the blended constituency of Spruce Grove-St. Albert," the report read.

The St. Albert riding would be home to 47,745 people, based on 2016 numbers, which is two per cent above the provincial average. The remaining 17,844 St. Albert residents who live in Erin Ridge North, Erin Ridge, Oakmont, Woodlands, Kingswood and Pineview will join with Morinville and a portion of Sturgeon County to create the Morinville-St. Albert riding. This constituency will be home to 50,225 people and will be seven per cent above the average population size for a provincial riding.

The communities of Bon Accord, Gibbons, Redwater and Legal are also within the Morinville-St. Albert riding, which includes both urban and rural residents.

The constituency was formed when the the riding of Barhead-Morinville-Westlock, represented by Wildrose-turned-UCP candidate Glenn van Dijken, was abolished. The riding also took parts of the Athabasca-Sturgeon-Redwater riding, which was represented by the NDP’s Colin Piquette.

The riding spans 1,376 square kilometres and has a population density of 36.5 people per square kilometre.

Residents will head to the polls on April 16 and advance voting is underway thoughout this week.


Jennifer Henderson

About the Author: Jennifer Henderson

Jennifer Henderson is the editor of the St. Albert Gazette and has been with Great West Media since 2015
Read more



Comments

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks