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Preamble:
WHEREAS the Electoral Boundaries Commission Act requires Alberta’s electoral boundaries to be reviewed and recommendations made in accordance with legislated redistribution rules, including consideration of population, communities of interest, common community ties, existing municipal boundaries, and geographical features; and
WHEREAS the Electoral Boundaries Commission Act permits individual electoral districts to have population variances from the provincial average in recognition that effective representation cannot be achieved by population parity alone, particularly in large, sparsely populated, and geographically dispersed rural constituencies; and
WHEREAS rural Alberta ridings often encompass extensive geographic areas, multiple municipalities, hamlets, agricultural communities, resource-based communities, and transportation networks, creating distinct representational demands that differ significantly from those in urban and metropolitan constituencies; and
WHEREAS enlarging rural ridings or reducing the number of dedicated rural constituencies may diminish residents’ reasonable access to their elected representatives and weaken the ability of Members of the Legislative Assembly to provide effective representation to remote and dispersed communities; and
WHEREAS maintaining coherent rural ridings that respect municipal boundaries, regional service relationships, and established communities of interest supports more effective advocacy, stronger constituent access, and better alignment between provincial representation and rural Alberta realities; and
Operative Clause:
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA) advocate to the Government of Alberta (GOA) and the Electoral Boundaries Commission that any current or future provincial electoral boundary redistribution preserve and protect meaningful rural representation by maintaining dedicated rural constituencies, applying legislated population variances where warranted, and giving substantial weight to geography, municipal boundaries, community ties, and the principle of effective representation for rural Albertans;
FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED THAT the RMA call on the GOA to make necessary amendments to the Electoral Boundaries Commission Act Section 2 “Redistribution Rules” to ensure rural areas (which may include towns, villages and hamlets) receive no less than 50% of the total of all electoral divisions for Alberta.
Member Background:
The County of Warner supports the principle that provincial electoral boundaries must facilitate effective representation and should not be determined solely on the basis of population parity.
Effective rural representation requires that a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) remain accessible to, and informed of, the diverse communities located throughout a substantial geographic area within their constituency. The continued expansion and/or blending of rural constituencies increases travel distances and the number of municipalities and communities represented by a single MLA, thereby limiting opportunities for direct engagement and reducing the capacity for local matters to receive timely and sustained consideration.
There is further concern that a continued reduction in the number of dedicated rural constituencies would diminish the representation of communities whose geography, infrastructure and economic priorities contribute to distinct provincial policy considerations. Increasing concentration of electoral representation in Calgary and Edmonton could enable the interests of Alberta’s two largest cities to exert disproportionate influence over the direction of provincial policy, notwithstanding the significant economic, social and public-service contributions of rural and smaller urban communities. The preservation of coherent rural electoral divisions, appropriate consideration for municipal and regional relationships, and the application of legislated population variances where warranted are necessary to maintain reasonable constituent access, promote balanced provincial decision-making and ensure that rural perspectives remain meaningfully represented in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.
RMA Background:
4-26S: Electoral Boundary Redistribution to Protect Effective Representation in Rural Alberta
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA) advocate to the Government of Alberta (GOA) to reject any electoral boundary redistribution that further enlarges or consolidates rural constituencies, where such changes would undermine effective representation and accessibility; and
FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that RMA advocate to the GOA to make greater and more appropriate use of permitted population variance provisions were justified by geography, travel burden, and local conditions, to preserve effective rural and remote representation; and
FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that RMA emphasize to the GOA that geographic size, travel burden, dispersed population, and constituency accessibility must be weighted as critical factors, alongside population parity, when determining provincial electoral boundaries; and
FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that RMA request the GOA and the Electoral Boundaries Commission to reconsider the use and expansion of hybrid ridings where they compromise the ability of MLAs to effectively represent rural, small urban, and urban communities with distinct interests.
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