Northern and rural community leaders and residents have spoken loud and clear about a government issue.
To much surprise, their concerns have been supported.
The Alberta Electoral Boundaries Commission consented to maintain the Lesser Slave Lake, Central Peace – Notley and Peace River ridings after presenting its final report March 27.
When the commission presented its interim report Oct. 27, 2025, it sure took a cookie cutter to the three electoral divisions in the High Prairie, Falher-McLennan and Peace River regions.
The commission proposed the new Slave Lake – Westlock – Athabasca riding with Slave Lake on the western boundary, the Mackenzie riding with Big Lakes County and north to High Level and the Peace River – Notley riding that would have combined the current Peace River and Central Peace – Notley ridings and included High Prairie and the west side of Big Lakes.
It would have been a nightmare for Big Lakes, which would have had four MLAs representing different parts of the vast rural municipality.
Soon after the interim report was released, municipalities, Indigenous governments and local constituency associations immediately opposed the proposed boundary changes. Many wrote submissions to the commission or spoke on an online virtual public hearing in January.
Proposed changes were strongly opposed by three MLAs: Lesser Slave Lake MLA Scott Sinclair, Peace River MLA Dan Williams and Central Peace – Notley MLA Todd Loewen. Each said it would reduce meaningful representation for northern Albertans.
As a result of strong opposition to the initial recommendations, the commission maintained the three existing constituencies.
Lesser Slave Lake extends farther south to include the town of Swan Hills, which is inside Big Lakes County.
Otherwise, the Peace River and Central Peace – Notley ridings remain unchanged.
Local government and community leaders and residents persisted in their opposition and it paid off. It should inspire everyone to persevere and never give up when lobbying government.
Concerns in rural Alberta were amplified in northern regions, the report states. Despite populations of the ridings well below the provincial averages, residents felt they already lacked representation.
The north wins!
While the electoral boundaries commission is an independent commission, it still comes under the provincial government, which makes the final decision on the commission’s recommendations.
Now, many northern rural Albertans can hope and wish to get the same response from the provincial government to provide services and programs that local communities and residents expect and deserve.
Richard Froese