Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche is a current

provincial Provincial may refer to: Government & Administration * Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country * Provincial city (disambiguation) * Provincial minister (disambiguation) * Provincial Secretary, a position in Can ...

electoral district An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. The district will be one of 87 districts mandated to return a single member (MLA) to the

Legislative Assembly of Alberta The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is the deliberative assembly of the province of Alberta, Canada. It sits in the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton. The Legislative Assembly currently has 87 members, elected first past the post from singl ...

using the

first past the post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...

method of voting. It was contested for the first time in the 2019 Alberta election.

Geography

The district is located in northeastern Alberta and is named for its main communities: it includes all of

Lac La Biche County Lac La Biche County is a specialized municipality within Division No. 12 in northern Alberta, Canada. It was established through the amalgamation of the Town of Lac La Biche and Lakeland County in 2007. History Lac La Biche County was origin ...

and the southern half of

Fort McMurray Fort McMurray ( ) is an urban service area in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in Alberta, Canada. It is located in northeast Alberta, in the middle of the Athabasca oil sands, surrounded by boreal forest. It has played a significant ...

(

Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (abbreviated RMWB) is a specialized municipality in northeast Alberta, Canada. It is the second largest municipality in Alberta by area and is home to oil sand deposits known as the Athabasca oil sand ...

). It also contains two reserves belonging to the

Fort McMurray First Nation Fort McMurray First Nation ( cr, ᓂᐢᑕᐚᔮᐤ, nistawâyâw) is a Cree and Chipewyan band government located near Fort McMurray, Alberta. It is a member of the Athabasca Tribal Council and a Treaty 8 nation. The Athabasca Tribal Council rep ...

(

Clearwater 175 Clearwater 175 is an Indian reserve of the Fort McMurray First Nation in Alberta, located within the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo. It is 7 kilometers southeast of Fort McMurray Fort McMurray ( ) is an urban service area in the Regio ...

and

Gregoire Lake 176 Gregoire Lake 176 is an Indian reserve of the Fort McMurray First Nation in Alberta, located within the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo. It is 35 kilometres southeast of Fort McMurray. In the 2016 Canadian Census The 2016 Canadian census ...

), all three reserves of the

Chipewyan Prairie First Nation The Chipewyan Prairie First Nation ( chp, Tł'ógh tëlı́ dënesųłı̨ne) is a First Nations band government located in northeast Alberta south of Fort McMurray. It is a member of the Athabasca Tribal Council and a Treaty 8 nation. The Atha ...

, the

Heart Lake First Nation The Heart Lake First Nation is a First Nations band government in northern Alberta. A signatory to Treaty 6, it controls two Indian reserve In Canada, an Indian reserve (french: réserve indienne) is specified by the '' Indian Act'' as a "tr ...

(on

Heart Lake 167 Heart Lake 167 is an Indian reserve in Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the we ...

), the main reserve of the

Beaver Lake Cree Nation The Beaver Lake Cree Nation is a First Nations band government located northeast of Edmonton, Alberta, representing people of the Cree ethno-linguistic group in the area around Lac La Biche, Alberta, where the band office is currently locate ...

Beaver Lake 131 Beaver Lake 131 is an Indian reserve in Alberta, Canada, of the Beaver Lake Cree Nation The Beaver Lake Cree Nation is a First Nations band government located northeast of Edmonton, Alberta, representing people of the Cree ethno-linguistic gr ...

, and one of the

Saddle Lake Cree Nation Saddle Lake Cree Nation ( cr, ᐅᓂᐦᒋᑭᐢᑿᐱᐏᓂᕽ, onihcikiskwapiwinihk) is a Plains Cree, First Nations community, located in the ''Amiskwacīwiyiniwak'' (" Beaver Hills") region of central Alberta, Canada. The Nation is a signator ...

'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

The district was created in 2017 when the Electoral Boundaries Commission recommended abolishing

Lac La Biche-St. Paul-Two Hills Lac La Biche-St. Paul-Two Hills was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada, mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using first-past-the-post balloting from 2012 to 2019. The district was created in ...

and extending the border of

Fort McMurray-Conklin Fort McMurray-Conklin was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada, mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using first-past-the-post balloting from 2012 to 2019. History The electoral district was cr ...

southward, renaming it in the process. The new district differs from the historical

Lac La Biche-McMurray Lac La Biche-McMurray was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada, mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using first-past-the-post balloting from 1971 to 1986. It replaced the district of Lac La B ...

district in that it does not contain the whole of

. Its northern boundary is formed by the

Athabasca River The Athabasca River (French: ''Rivière Athabasca'') is a river in Alberta, Canada, which originates at the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park and flows more than before emptying into Lake Athabasca. Much of the land along its banks is pro ...

, Thickwood Boulevard within Fort McMurray, and the Clearwater River. In 2019, the district elected United Conservative MLA

Laila Goodridge Laila Goodridge is a Canadian politician in Alberta, Canada, who has served as the member of Parliament (MP) for Fort McMurray—Cold Lake from the Conservative Party since 2021. Goodridge served as Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) f ...

who had previously been elected to Fort McMurray-Conklin in the July 12, 2018

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

following the resignation of

Brian Jean Brian Michael Jean (born February 3, 1963) is a Canadian politician who has served as the minister of Jobs, Economy and Northern Development since 2022 and the member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche since Mar ...

on March 5, 2018. Goodridge had previously stood as a Wildrose candidate for

Grande Prairie-Wapiti Grande Prairie-Wapiti is a provincial electoral district in northwestern Alberta, Canada. It is one of 87 mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting. The electoral dis ...

in the 2015 Alberta general election, placing third behind PC

Wayne Drysdale Wayne Ronald Drysdale is a Canadian politician, who served as an Alberta MLA from 2008 to 2019. He is a member of the Progressive Conservatives. He was Minister of Transportation in the cabinet of Jim Prentice. He was elected in the 2008 pro ...

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. 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

2022 by-election

2019 general election

References

External links

Elections AlbertaThe Legislative Assembly of Alberta
{{coord missing, Alberta Alberta provincial electoral districts Fort McMurray 2017 establishments in Alberta Constituencies established in 2017