The mayor of Sundre and the reeve of Mountain View County have differing perspectives on the manner in which provincial electoral boundaries could be redrawn in the region.
Reeve Bruce Beattie recently told the Alberta electoral boundaries commission during a Jan. 25 hearing in Olds that adjusting the existing provincial boundaries to bring the entire county into one constituency would have several benefits.
"The county is divided into two distinct ridings and therefore two MLAs. The natural trading area is not represented," he said, adding the county's position is that a more workable boundary alignment would place Sundre within the Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills riding.
"This would keep all areas of Mountain View County, including all towns, within one riding."
That change would additionally mean that the county would have only one MLA, simplifying communication with the government, he said.
But Mayor Terry Leslie said Sundre's council respectfully disagrees, telling the Round Up last week that the issues faced by the municipality ó which include oil and gas, forestry, agriculture, as well as recreation and tourism ó are different for the West Country than for the Highway 2 corridor.
"We like the current electoral boundaries, we don't want to see them change."
Wildfire as well as flood mitigation and emergency planning are also concerns that affect communities that are situated along the Rockies' Eastern Slopes, the mayor said.
"That would be us."
Even agricultural production differs further west, where hay tends to be the primary crop grown as compared with a greater variety such as wheat and canola going east, he said.
On a provincial level, those issues will be best served by a riding with municipalities that share similar concerns, he said.
Additionally, the mayor sees no problem with having two MLAs to turn to when attempting to get the provincial government's attention.
"Our council feels that we are better represented by two exceptional MLAs than by one."
The Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre riding's MLA Jason Nixon also addressed the commission during a hearing held Wednesday, Feb. 1 in Olds.
"I'm not going to tell anybody how to redraw it," he said about his riding's boundary.
However, he pointed out that the population density further west and north is far too sparse to justify making changes on land that is largely forest reserve. But going straight south, there are communities like Cremona and Water Valley along the Highway 22 corridor that share similar issues with other municipalities in the West Country such as Sundre and Rocky Mountain House, he said.
"One of the challenges Mountain View County has always had is the majority of the communities ó the larger urban areas ó are on that Highway 2 corridor. And then Sundre, where I'm from, we're very far away from that Highway 2 corridor."
Although there was a time when Sundre was in the same riding as Olds, the municipality has throughout Alberta's history usually been associated with Rocky Mountain House, said the MLA.
In a letter to the commission approved by Sundre's council, Leslie wrote, "We do not support going backwards to ëthe way we were' when Sundre was part of the Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills riding. We believe the current two MLA ridings provide an exceptional voice in the Legislature for all the varying issues of concern in our Mountain View County region."
Additionally, asking Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills MLA Nathan Cooper to assume all of the West Country's issues "would be asking that MLA to take on a portfolio so vast that it would be a step backward. Two MLAs, dealing with all the legitimate provincial issues of resident concern, is best served with current electoral boundaries."
The commission has recently been examining all 87 ridings in the province and following public consultations will prepare its interim report with recommendations as to the areas, boundaries and names of the existing electoral constituencies of the province. This report will be submitted to the Legislative Assembly before the end of May, said a press release.
"A second set of public hearings will be held in the summer, providing Albertans with a chance to provide more focused feedback based on the recommendations in the interim report prior to the final report being submitted to the Legislative Assembly in October."
ó with files from Dan Singleton and Doug Collie
