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Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche

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Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche
Alberta electoral district
Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche within Alberta (2017 boundaries)
Provincial electoral district
LegislatureLegislative Assembly of Alberta
MLA
 
 
 
Brian Jean
United Conservative
District created2017
First contested2019
Last contested2023
Demographics
Population (2016)[1]44,166
Area (km²)32,317
Pop. density (per km²)1.4
Census division(s)Division No. 12, Division No. 13, Division No. 16
Census subdivision(s)Athabasca County, Beaver Lake 131, Gregoire Lake 176, Heart Lake 167, Janvier 194, Lac la Biche County, Smoky Lake County, White Fish Lake 128, Wood Buffalo

Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche is a current provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada. The district will be one of 87 districts mandated to return a single member (MLA) to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting. It was contested for the first time in the 2019 Alberta election.

Geography

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The district is located in northeastern Alberta and is named for its main communities: it includes all of Lac La Biche County and the southern half of Fort McMurray (Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo). It also contains two reserves belonging to the Fort McMurray First Nation (Clearwater 175 and Gregoire Lake 176), all three reserves of the Chipewyan Prairie First Nation, the Heart Lake First Nation (on Heart Lake 167), the main reserve of the Beaver Lake Cree Nation, Beaver Lake 131, and one of the Saddle Lake Cree Nation's reserves (Whitefish Lake 128). Major transportation routes include Alberta Highways 36 (Veterans Memorial Highway), 55 (Northern Woods and Water Route), 63, and 881.

History

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Members of the Legislative Assembly for Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche
Assembly Years Member Party
Riding created from Lac La Biche-St. Paul-Two Hills,
Fort McMurray-Conklin,
Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo and
Athabasca-Sturgeon-Redwater
30th  2019–2021     Laila Goodridge United Conservative
30th  2022–Present     Brian Jean United Conservative

The district was created in 2017 when the Electoral Boundaries Commission recommended abolishing Lac La Biche-St. Paul-Two Hills and extending the border of Fort McMurray-Conklin southward, renaming it in the process. The new district differs from the historical Lac La Biche-McMurray district in that it does not contain the whole of Fort McMurray. Its northern boundary is formed by the Athabasca River, Thickwood Boulevard within Fort McMurray, and the Clearwater River.[2]

In 2019, the district elected United Conservative MLA Laila Goodridge who had previously been elected to Fort McMurray-Conklin in the July 12, 2018 by-election following the resignation of Brian Jean on March 5, 2018.[3] Goodridge had previously stood as a Wildrose candidate for Grande Prairie-Wapiti in the 2015 Alberta general election, placing third behind PC Wayne Drysdale and NDP candidate Mary Dahr. The 2019 election was in many ways a rematch of the 2018 by-election with Goodridge once again defeating Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo councillor and NDP candidate Jane Stroud, this time by 6,231 votes.[4]

In August 2021 Goodridge resigned as MLA to successfully run as the Conservative Party's MP candidate in Fort McMurray—Cold Lake MP in the 2021 Canadian federal election. A provincial by-election was then held in March 2022, making Brian Jean the new MLA.

Electoral results

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2023

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2023 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
United Conservative Brian Jean 7,692 73.57 +9.93
New Democratic Calan William Simeon Hobbs 2,561 24.50 +5.99
Independent Kevin Johnston 202 1.93
Total 10,455 99.33
Rejected and declined 70 0.67
Turnout 10,525 42.90
Eligible voters 24,536
United Conservative hold Swing +3.63
Source(s)

2022 by-election

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Alberta provincial by-election, 15 March 2022
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
United Conservative Brian Jean 3,717 63.64 -2.69
New Democratic Ariana Mancini 1,081 18.51 -6.01
Wildrose Independence Paul Hinman 628 10.75
Liberal Abdulhakim Hussein 211 3.61
Alberta Party Michelle Landsiedel 98 1.68 -4.10
Independent Brian Deheer 57 0.98 –0.58
Alberta Advantage Party Marilyn Burns 25 0.43
Alberta Independence Steven Mellott 24 0.41 -1.42
Total valid votes 5,841 99.39
Total rejected ballots 36 0.61 -0.02
Turnout 5,877 23.99 -34.26
Eligible voters 24,501
United Conservative hold Swing +1.66

2019

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2019 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
United Conservative Laila Goodridge 9,836 66.33 +2.63
New Democratic Jane Stroud 3,635 24.51 -8.79
Alberta Party Jeff Fafard 857 5.78
Alberta Independence Mark Grinder 271 1.83
Green Brian Deheer 230 1.55 +0.45
Total 14,829 99.36
Rejected, spoiled and declined 95 0.64
Eligible electors / turnout 25,622 58.25
United Conservative notional hold Swing 5.73
Source(s)
Source: "60 - Fort Mcmurray-Lac La Biche, 2019 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
Alberta. Chief Electoral Officer (2019). 2019 General Election. A Report of the Chief Electoral Officer. Volume II (PDF) (Report). Vol. 2. Edmonton, Alta.: Elections Alberta. pp. 269–274. ISBN 978-1-988620-12-1. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
Change is based on re-distributed results from the 2015 Alberta general election.

2015

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Redistributed results, 2015 Alberta election[citation needed]
Party Votes %
Wildrose 4,910 42.59%
New Democratic 3,833 33.25%
Progressive Conservative 2,433 21.10%
Others 353 3.06%

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Statistics Canada: 2016
  2. ^ Alberta Electoral Boundaries Commission (October 2017). "Proposed Electoral Division Areas, Boundaries, and Names for Alberta. Final Report to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta" (PDF). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. ISBN 978-1-988620-04-6. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
  3. ^ McDermott, Vincent (July 13, 2018). "United Conservatives win Alberta byelections". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  4. ^ Walsh, Melanie (February 19, 2019). "NDP choose Jane Stroud and Steve Drover as provincial candidates". MyMcMurray. Rogers Digital Media. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  5. ^ "60 - Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
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