A recommendation by the Alberta Electoral Boundaries Commission (AEBC) to make changes to the existing Banff-Cochrane riding is receiving mixed responses from the town.
“I’m not a fan of their current plan … I would rather see things left alone,” said Mayor Ivan Brooker, referring to the commission’s recommendation to divide Cochrane’s voting populous from Banff-Canmore and create a new riding with a divided Airdrie: Airdrie-Cochrane.
“I feel like the folks who should be really concerned are (those in) the City of Airdrie,” said Coun. Morgan Nagel. “If I was from Airdrie I would be upset … I wouldn’t want to be cut off from the rest of my city.”
Mayor Peter Brown of Airdrie is “thrilled,” noting that for his city, two members in the legislative assembly instead of one offers better representation for the city with a population in excess of 63,000.
Brown said he is looking forward to the “regional opportunities” that could unfold through the creation of the new riding.
According to commission chair Justice Myra Bielby, the status quo would result in Cochrane being “underweighted” and would not maintain the guidelines put forward by the Alberta legislature – with Cochrane pushing the maximum boundary of 25 per cent of the provincial constituency average at 21 per cent and counting.
New ridings in Calgary and Edmonton are also being proposed, along with the Airdrie-Cochrane constituency; several rural community amalgamations are being proposed in order to create the three new ridings and maintain the number of provincial ridings of 87 – a total number that must remain the same.
“Most importantly, we want to keep communities of common interests together … you can get better and more effective representation by an MLA if there’s only a certain number of concerns,” explained Bielby.
She added that it’s a “balancing act” to redefine the electoral boundaries – keeping communities with common grounds together while ensuring “relatively equal voting parity.”
The division of the current Banff-Cochrane riding would result in the creation of the Banff-Stoney riding – which would include Bragg Creek, Tsuu T’ina, Morley, Canmore, Banff, Lake Louise and some smaller rural communities.
Bielby explained this would result in the creation of a “greater indigenous voice” and would keep the Bow Valley communities together.
According to Bielby, the segment of Airdrie that would form the new Airdrie-Cochrane riding would be roughly 15,000 people – or “everything west of Eighth St. SW and north of Yankee Valley Boulevard.”
Combined with Cochrane’s population of just over 26,000 and surrounding rural municipalities the new riding would represent just shy of 50,000 voters.
Brooker said that according to current recommendations, the City of Airdrie will have two MLAs to “go to bat for their community” and he is concerned about the potential dilution of Cochrane’s voice should Airdrie and Cochrane disagree on issues.
While Brown said he “hears these concerns” he feels that this would be ironed out through the creation of a regional Growth Management Board.
Bielby asserted that “the commission refuses to accept comments based on political considerations” and that Cochrane has “more in common with Airdrie than Calgary” and Cochrane’s rural voice would not be diluted.
The public consultation process revealed opposition to amalgamating rural communities and smaller municipalities with the City of Calgary.
Nagel has expressed a measure of relief that Cochrane will not be lumped in with Calgary voices.
Constituencies must encompass a population of not less than 10 per cent nor more than 25 per cent of the provincial average of 46,697. This formula is determined by dividing the population (4,062,609 in 2016) by the 87 constituencies.
With a population increase of more than 10,000 since 2009/2010 to 56,399, the Banff-Cochrane constituency is pushing 21 per cent of the constituency average.
These figures are based on 2016 census data.
A public consult will be held in Calgary July 20 at the Delta Hotel in downtown Calgary. Written submissions will be accepted until July 8 and those who wish to at
tend the public consults must pre-register online.
The final draft must be filed with the province by Oct. 31.
The legislative assembly must adopt the recommended changes at least one year before the next election. The next provincial election is slated for the spring of 2019.
Learn more at abebc.ca.
