Province approves new electoral riding for Stony Plain

STONY PLAIN -- Stony Plain has been added to the modified electoral riding of Lac St. Anne for next year's provincial election.

This comes following this week's approval of a new electoral boundary map penned by an independent advisory panel. The newly approved map includes a modified riding of Lac St. Anne to now include the Town of Stony Plain -- which had previously been a part of the Spruce Grove-Stony Plain riding. The panel's primary reason for this was to provide Spruce Grove with its own riding. 

"Stony Plain is immediately adjacent to the Lac St. Anne Electoral Division, and so the incorporation is easily accomplished," reads the report from the Independent Advisory Panel on Electoral Boundaries. "The Lac St. Anne Electoral Division, which the panel is recommending, would run from Stony Plain to Onoway to Mayerthorpe along a Highway 43 alignment." 

This presents a significant change from the previous recommendations that had suggested that Stony Plain would join the riding of Drayton Valley-Devon. The advisory panel notes in their report that Stony Plain shares a greater connection with the region of Lac St. Anne than it does with any other jurisdictions residing in Drayton Valley-Devon.

Much like the current riding of Lac St. Anne-Parkland, the new constituency would dip south of the Yellowhead Highway to take in Wabamun Lake and the Paul First Nation. This would join the Paul First Nation with the nations of the Alexis Nakota Sioux reserve and the Alexander Cree reserve. This maintains the three Treaty 6 reserves that had been proposed to split up under the previous electoral boundary recommendations from this past spring.

"Spruce Grove and the areas around it warrant an Electoral Division of their own," reads the report. "Spruce Grove is a city with a population of roughly 45,000 and is expected to grow. In the meantime, we have recommended extending the Electoral Division both north and south to give it the population it needs."