Legislative Assembly of Alberta Electoral Boundaries Commission Public Hearings Red Deer Friday, October 9, 2009 3:48 p.m. Transcript No. 27-2-22 Legislative Assembly of Alberta Electoral Boundaries Commission Judge Ernest J.M. Walter, Chairman Dr. Keith Archer Peter Dobbie, QC Brian Evans, QC Allyson Jeffs Office of the Chief Electoral Officer Acting Chief Electoral Officer Lori McKee-Jeske Participants Dale Boddy Shirley Cripps Phil Elder, Democratic Renewal Project Heather MacIntosh, Sheldon Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership Ray Prins, MLA, Lacombe-Ponoka Support Staff Clerk W.J. David McNeil Clerk Assistant and Director of House Services Louise J. Kamuchik Senior Parliamentary Counsel Robert H. Reynolds, QC Shannon Dean Administrators Erin Norton Karen Sawchuk Communications Consultant Melanie Friesacher Consultant Tom Forgrave Managing Editor of Alberta Hansard Liz Sim Transcript produced by Alberta Hansard October 9, 2009 Electoral Boundaries Commission Public Hearings – Red Deer EB-231 3:48 p.m. Friday, October 9, 2009 those numbers will be considered by the commission once they are Title: Friday, October 9, 2009 rd officially released. [Judge Walter in the chair] The commission is, as I’ve said, required to divide Alberta into 87 proposed electoral divisions by taking into account and consideration The Chair: Good afternoon. Thank you for taking the time to come any factors it considers appropriate, but it must and it shall take into out and share your views with us today. account the following: My name is Ernie Walter, and I’m the chairman of the Alberta (a) the requirement for effective representation as guaranteed by Electoral Boundaries Commission. I’d like to introduce you to the the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, other members of the commission here today: on my far right Dr. (b) sparsity and density of population, Keith Archer of Banff, next to him Peter Dobbie of Vegreville, on (c) common community interests and community organizations, including those of Indian reserves and Metis settlements, my immediate left Allyson Jeffs of Edmonton, and next to Allyson (d) wherever possible, the existing community boundaries within is Brian Evans of Calgary. the cities of Edmonton and Calgary, We’ve been directed by legislation to make recommendations to (e) . the existing municipal boundaries, the Legislative Assembly on the areas, boundaries, and names for 87 (f) the number of municipalities and other local authorities, electoral divisions, four more than at present, based on the latest (g) geographical features, including existing road systems, and census and population information. In other words, our job is to (h) the desirability of understandable and clear boundaries. determine where to divide Alberta into 87 areas so each Albertan The population rule in the act states that a proposed electoral receives effective representation by a Member of the Legislative division must not be more than 25 per cent above or below the Assembly. Over the past few months we have received community average population for all 87 electoral divisions, which at this time, input through a province-wide consultation before developing our as I’ve said, is 40,573. There’s one exception to this in that up to recommendations. Through public hearings such as the one here four proposed electoral divisions may have a population that is as today we want to hear what you have to say about the representation much as 50 per cent below the average population of the electoral you are receiving in your community. divisions in Alberta if three of the following five criteria are met: In carrying out this work, we have to follow the provisions of the (a) the area . exceeds 20 000 square kilometres or the total Electoral Boundaries Commission Act. In doing this, we are surveyed area of the proposed electoral division exceeds mandated to propose four additional divisions in Alberta, which will 15 000 square kilometres; (b) the distance from the Legislature Building in Edmonton to the come into effect at the next provincial general election. We are also nearest boundary of the proposed electoral division by the reviewing the law, what the courts have said about electoral most direct highway route is more than 150 kilometres; boundaries in the province of Alberta and in Canada, the work of (c) there is no town in the proposed electoral division that has a previous commissions and committees which have studied bound- population exceeding 8000 people; aries in Alberta, and the population information which is available (d) the area of the proposed electoral division contains an Indian to us. reserve or a Metis settlement; A brief summary of the electoral boundaries law. First of all, we (e) the proposed electoral division has a portion of its boundary are to make proposals under it for 87 electoral divisions. We have coterminous with a boundary of the Province of Alberta. a limited time to accomplish this task. We are required, after 3:55 consideration of representations made at the public hearings, to That’s a general overview of the legislation, but the Alberta Court submit an interim report to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada have also provided in February of 2010 that sets out the areas, boundaries, and names of guidance. In rulings they have agreed that under the Charter the the 87 proposed electoral divisions and the reasons for the proposed rights of Albertans include the right to vote; the right to have the boundaries. Following publication of the interim report a second political strength or value or force of the vote an elector casts not round of public hearings will be held to receive input on the unduly diluted; the right to effective representation; the right to have proposed 87 boundaries. After consideration of that input the the parity of the votes of others diluted, but not unduly, in order to commission must submit a final report to the Speaker of the gain effective representation or as a matter of practical necessity. Legislative Assembly by July of 2010. Then it is up to the Legisla- These rulings as well as the Electoral Boundaries Commission Act tive Assembly by resolution to approve or to approve with alter- must guide our decisions and, ultimately, the proposals that we make ations the proposals of the commission and to introduce a bill to to the Legislative Assembly. establish the new electoral divisions for Alberta in accordance with Now that I’ve reviewed the law and the parameters that we must the resolution. This law would then come into force when pro- act under, we want to receive what we consider to be the most claimed, before the holding of the next general election. important input, and that’s the views of the public and various One way to ensure effective representation is by developing organizations. We’ve had the benefit of many across this province. electoral divisions with similar populations, especially where We believe that what we hear from these sources will be effective in population density is similar. The law directs us to use the popula- helping us to change the boundaries and is critical to making sure we tions set out in the most recent census of Alberta as provided by are recommending a new electoral map that will ensure fair and Statistics Canada, the 2006 census, but we are also allowed under the effective representation for all Albertans. legislation that if we have population information that is reliable and We welcome people here, and we ask that you share their views that is more recent than the federal census compiled by Statistics with us. If you are not going to be speaking today, we would be Canada, then the commission may use this data in conjunction with delighted to have your proposals in writing by fax or by e-mail. the federal census information. Based on the numbers from various With that background information, I see our first presenter is here. sources the population of Red Deer-North is 39,198, the population Each speaker will have 10 minutes to present and then five minutes of Red Deer-South is 45,120, and the average quotient is 40,573 if for questions and answers with the commission. The commission’s you divide the population of Alberta by 87 ridings. So you will see public meetings are being recorded by Alberta Hansard, and the that one of the ridings is slightly below, that being Red Deer-North. audio recordings will be posted on the commission website. Red Deer-South is 11 per cent, approximately, above the average. Transcripts of these proceedings will also be available. If you have Elections Alberta is currently reviewing the 2009 census data, and registered as a presenter or you choose to participate in this after- EB-232 Electoral Boundaries Commission Public Hearings – Red Deer October 9, 2009 noon’s meeting, we ask that you identify yourself for the record be 38 square kilometres. If they had 19, it would be 36 square prior to starting your presentation. kilometres. Population and density and expected growth will affect Our first presenter. boundaries, but closeness and access to the Legislature is a major benefit and more of a major factor affecting representation. I Ms Friesacher: Our first presenter is Mrs. Shirley Cripps. remember when I was MLA, Neil Crawford said: if I had to do what you rural people have to do, I would never even dream of running Shirley Cripps for the Legislature. Calgary, 726 divided by 23 MLAs, which is Private Citizen what they have now, is 32 square kilometres per MLA. If they get 25, it’s 29 square kilometres per MLA.