{"id":569639,"date":"2026-03-30T00:11:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T00:11:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/569639\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T00:11:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T00:11:10","slug":"proposed-provincial-ridings-around-edmonton-met-with-mixed-feelings-from-mayors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/569639\/","title":{"rendered":"Proposed provincial ridings around Edmonton met with mixed feelings from mayors"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Text<\/p>\n

Listen to this article<\/p>\n

Estimated 4 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

Municipal leaders around Edmonton have mixed feelings about potential changes to their provincial ridings.<\/p>\n

Alberta\u2019s electoral boundaries commission issued its final report<\/a> Thursday, recommending how to change the provincial political map to add two more ridings, to adjust for population growth. For the first time, though, it has presented the legislative assembly with two different visions of how that could look.<\/p>\n

In either case, the capital city region would gain hybrid ridings that combine parts of Edmonton with neighbouring communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving the capital city actually broken up into ridings that extend beyond our boundaries, it actually lessens their representation,\u201d Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack told CBC News.<\/p>\n

Knack acknowledged there are projects and needs that Edmonton shares with the satellite communities in question, and that the city works already with those communities. But ultimately, he said, the future MLAs will be representing communities with unique needs.<\/p>\n

\"AEdmonton Mayor Andrew Knack worries hybrid ridings will give some Edmontonians less of a voice in provincial politics. (Paul Rampersaud\/CBC)<\/p>\n

\u201cThere would be more logic to retain some of the smaller municipalities together \u2014 as has been the case for decades \u2014 than breaking up the capital city,\u201d Knack said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat loss of communities of interest is very concerning.\u201d<\/p>\n

The commission was chaired by Dallas Miller, a retired judge who Premier Danielle Smith appointed to the role, and filled out with two appointees each for the governing United Conservative Party and Opposition NDP. Their mandate was to create 89 provincial ridings, up from the 87 that have existed since 2012.<\/p>\n

The commission presented dueling reports with alternative maps: one that most commissioners supported, another with less support.<\/p>\n

The majority \u2014 Miller and the opposition\u2019s two appointees \u2014 raised significant criticisms of the minority report, including potential gerrymandering, a U.S. political term that describes redistricting efforts to skew partisan advantage. They also warned MLAs that accepting the minority report could lead to successful court challenges.<\/p>\n

If the majority report\u2019s suggestions are approved by the legislative assembly, the city of Edmonton would see a net gain of one seat. Six ridings in the city\u2019s core would be consolidated into five, and two hybrid divisions would be added \u2014 one merging the outskirts of southeast Edmonton and the city of Beaumont, another combining west Edmonton, Enoch Cree Nation and some Albertans southwest of the city.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The minority report also suggests cutting an urban riding, but would create three hybrid ridings: Edmonton-Spruce Grove, Edmonton-Enoch-Devon and Edmonton-Beaumont.<\/p>\n

Keeping Beaumont intact is a change from October, when the commission recommended in its interim report that the city of more than 26,000, located just south of Edmonton, be shared between two ridings.<\/p>\n

The commission\u2019s final report noted the many pleas from residents and municipal officials to change course. But Beaumont Mayor Lisa Vanderwaak told CBC News the city would have also preferred to continue sharing a riding with the Leduc area.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t the outcome that we had hoped for. However, we are very excited that they listened to us,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Beaumont and Edmonton have a good relationship and share services, she said, but her municipality has worked closer with Leduc, historically.<\/p>\n

\"ABeaumont Mayor Lisa Vanderwaak said the city had hoped to remain in a riding with Leduc, but she’s glad the commission suggested keeping Beaumont together. (Paul Rampersaud\/CBC)<\/p>\n

The commission\u2019s majority report stated that an electoral division made up entirely of Leduc and Beaumont would be \u201cby far the most populous\u201d in Alberta, and keeping it would have impeded effective representation throughout the province.<\/p>\n

Edmonton residents weren\u2019t heavily for or against hybrid ridings, the majority report said, and the ones it proposes \u201cwill not dilute the power of Edmonton voters in the legislature, but instead ensure they get two additional seats while joining their votes to those with a community of interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alberta\u2019s last two boundary commissions, in 2010 and 2017, also offered minority reports, but they were from individual commissioners and didn\u2019t redraw the maps.<\/p>\n

WATCH | Edmonton may share ridings with other communities in next Alberta election:\"\"<\/p>\n

Edmonton could share electoral boundaries with other communities in the next election<\/p>\n

Edmonton is one of several municipalities the Electoral Boundaries Commission is proposing to share electoral divisons with other communities. As Nicole Healey explains, several mayors are expressing their concerns about how this could limit their representation of their cities in government.<\/p>\n

The final report still has to be tabled in the legislative assembly, at which point there could be debate and, possibly, amendments. Previous governments have made changes, particularly to riding names.<\/p>\n

Once approved, a bill will be introduced to amend Alberta\u2019s Electoral Divisions Act. If that passes, the new boundaries will be in effect for the next provincial election.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 4 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":569640,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194294],"tags":[49,48,23752],"class_list":{"0":"post-569639","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edmonton","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-edmonton"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=569639"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569639\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/569640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=569639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=569639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=569639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}