Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo is a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada. The district is one of current districts 87 mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting.
The district was created in the 2004 boundary redistribution and is the largest current district in terms of both land mass and population, this district includes most of the North East Alberta and borders Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories The main communities are Fort McMurray, and Fort Chipewyan in the north, along the north shore of Lake Athabasca. The district also includes the gigantic Wood Buffalo National Park. This district is home to the oil sands that play a major contribution towards the Alberta economy.
The district had in recent years been favourable to the election of Progressive Conservative candidates, a trend broken by the 2015 election of Wildrose MLA Tany Yao.
History
The electoral district was created in the 2003 boundary re-distribution by merging the electoral district of Fort McMurray with a portion of Athabasca-Wabasca residing in the Municipal district of Wood Buffalo.[1]
The decade that went by since the district was created saw significant population growth due to exploration and development of the oil sands. The 2010 Alberta boundaries commission decided to split the district in two along north south lines creating Fort McMurray-Conklin in the eastern half.[2]
Boundary history
| 54 Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo 2003 Boundaries[3] |
|---|
| Bordering Districts |
| North |
East |
West |
South |
| none |
none |
Lesser Slave Lake, Peace River |
Lac La Biche-St. Paul |
| riding map goes here |
 |
| Legal description from the Statutes of Alberta 2003, Electoral Divisions Act. |
| Starting at the intersection of the east boundary of Rge. 10 W5 and the north boundary of the Province; then 1. east along the north boundary of the Province to the east boundary of the Province; 2. south along the east boundary of the Province to the north boundary of Twp. 73, Rge. 1 W4 (north boundary of the Cold Lake Air Weapons Range [CLAWR]); 3. west along the north boundary of the CLAWR to the east boundary of Sec. 21, Twp. 73, Rge. 9 W4; 4. north along the east boundary of Secs. 21, 28 and 33 in the Twp. and Secs. 4, 9, 16, 21, 28 and 33 in Twp. 74, Rge. 9 W4 to the north boundary of Twp. 74; 5. west along the north boundary of Twp. 74 to the east boundary of Rge. 10; 6. north along the east boundary of Rge. 10 to the north boundary of Twp. 80; 7. west along the north boundary of Twp. 80 to the east boundary of Rge. 13 W4; 8. south along the east boundary of Rge. 13 to the north boundary of Sec. 13 in the Twp.; 9. west along the north boundary of Secs. 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 in the Twp. to the east boundary of Rge. 14 W4; 10. north along the east boundary of Rge. 14 to the north boundary of Twp. 80; 11. west along the Twp. to the intersection with the right bank of the Athabasca River; 12. downstream along the right bank of the Athabasca River to the intersection with the east boundary of Rge. 18 W4 in Twp. 86; 13. north along the east boundary of Rge. 18 to the north boundary of Twp. 95; 14. west along the north boundary of Twp. 95 to the east boundary of Rge. 20 W4; 15. north along the east boundary of Rge. 20 to the north boundary of Twp. 96; 16. west along the north boundary of Twp. 96 to the 5th meridian; 17. north along the 5th meridian to the north boundary of Twp. 111; 18. east along the north boundary of Twp. 111 to the east boundary of Rge. 23 W4; 19. north along the east boundary of Rge. 23 to the north boundary of Twp. 112; 20. west along the north boundary of Twp. 112 to the 5th meridian (Wood Buffalo National Park boundary); 21. north, west and north along the park boundary to the starting point. |
| Note: |
Representation history
The electoral district was created in the 2003 boundary redistribution. The first election held that year saw Fort McMurray incumbent Progressive Conservative MLA Guy Boutilier win the new seat with a landslide over four other candidates to pick it up for his party.
Boutilier was appointed as Minister of Environment by Premier Ralph Klein in 2004. In 2006 he was shuffled to Minister of International Relations. He ran for a second term as a cabinet minister in the 2008 general election. That election saw him win another big majority.
On July 18, 2009 Boutilier was ejected from caucus by Premier Ed Stelmach after speaking out against the government over a broken promise to put a seniors care facility in Fort McMurray. He sat as an Independent until joining the Wildrose Alliance caucus as an Independent member on June 24, 2010. On October 25, 2010 he became a full member of the caucus.
Legislature results
2004 general election
2008 general election
2012 general election
2015 general election
Senate nominee results
2004 Senate nominee election district results
| 2004 Senate nominee election results: Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo[7] |
Turnout 26.45% |
|
Affiliation |
Candidate |
Votes |
% Votes |
% Ballots |
Rank |
|
Progressive Conservative | Betty Unger | 2,560 | 15.87% | 50.23% | 2 |
|
Progressive Conservative | Bert Brown | 2,218 | 13.75% | 43.52% | 1 |
|
Progressive Conservative | Cliff Breitkreuz | 1,882 | 11.67% | 36.92% | 3 |
|
Progressive Conservative | David Usherwood | 1,683 | 10.43% | 33.02% | 6 |
| |
Independent |
Link Byfield |
1,509 |
9.36% |
29.61% |
4 |
|
Progressive Conservative | Jim Silye | 1,355 | 8.40% | 26.58% | 5 |
|
Alberta Alliance |
Michael Roth |
1,338 |
8.30% |
26.25% |
7 |
| |
Independent |
Tom Sindlinger |
1,233 |
7.64% |
24.19% |
9 |
|
Alberta Alliance |
Gary Horan |
1,177 |
7.30% |
23.09% |
10 |
|
Alberta Alliance |
Vance Gough |
1,176 |
7.28% |
23.07% |
8 |
| Total Votes |
16,131 |
100% |
| Total Ballots |
5,097 |
3.17 Votes Per Ballot |
| Rejected, Spoiled and Declined |
1,839 |
Voters had the option of selecting 4 Candidates on the Ballot
Student Vote results
2004 election
| Participating Schools[8] |
|---|
| Beacon Hill School |
| Dr. K.A. Clark School |
| Father Mercredi Catholic High School |
| Fort McMurray Christian School |
| Fort McMurray Composite High School |
| Timberlea Public School |
On November 19, 2004 a Student Vote was conducted at participating Alberta schools to parallel the 2004 Alberta general election results. The vote was designed to educate students and simulate the electoral process for persons who have not yet reached the legal majority. The vote was conducted in 80 of the 83 provincial electoral districts with students voting for actual election candidates. Schools with a large student body that reside in another electoral district had the option to vote for candidates outside of the electoral district then where they were physically located.
2012 election
References
External links
Alberta electoral district
