Grande Prairie-Smoky
Grande Prairie-Smoky is a provincial electoral district, located in northwestern Alberta Canada. The district is one of 83 mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting.
The riding was created in 1993 when from the Smoky River electoral district was expanded into the old Whitecourt electoral district. The district includes the north portion of the city of Grande Prairie as well as the towns of Fox Creek, Sexsmith and Valleyview.
The district and its antecedents have been a strong hold for Progressive Conservative candidates in recent decades. The current MLA for this district is Progressive Conservative Cabinet Minister Mel Knight. He has held the district since 2001.
Grande Prairie-Smoky history
Boundary history
| 56 Grande Prairie-Smoky 2003 Boundaries[1] |
| Bordering Districts |
| North |
East |
West |
South |
| Dunvegan-Central Peace, Lesser Slave Lake |
Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock, Whitecourt-Ste. Anne |
Grande Prairie-Wapiti |
West Yellowhead |
| riding map goes here |
map in relation to other districts in Alberta goes here |
| Legal description from the Statutes of Alberta 2003, Electoral Divisions Act. |
| Starting at the intersection of the east boundary of Rge. 7 W6 and the north boundary of Sec. 7 in Twp. 75, Rge. 6 W6; then 1. east along the north boundary of Secs. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 in Twp. 75, Rges. 6 and 5 W6 to the east boundary of Rge. 5 W6; 2. south along the east boundary of Rge. 5 to the north boundary of Twp. 74; 3. east along the north boundary of Twp. 74 to the east boundary of Sec. 3 in Twp. 75, Rge. 3 W6; 4. north along the east boundary of Secs. 3, 10, 15, 22 and 27 of the Twp. to the north boundary of the south half of Sec. 26 in the Twp.; 5. east along the north boundary of the south half of Secs. 26 and 25 in the Twp. to the east boundary of Rge. 3 W6; 6. north along the east boundary to the north boundary of Sec. 30 in Twp. 75, Rge. 2 W6; 7. east along the north boundary to the east boundary of the west half of Sec. 31 in the Twp.; 8. north along the east boundary to the north boundary of the south half of Sec. 31; 9. east along the north boundary of the south half of Secs. 31 and 32 in the Twp. to the east boundary of the west half of Sec. 32; 10. north along the east boundary of the west half of Sec. 32 in the Twp. and Sec. 5 in Twp. 76, Rge. 2 W6 to the north boundary of the south half of Sec. 5; 11. east along the north boundary to the east boundary of Sec. 5 in the Twp.; 12. north along the east boundary to the north boundary of Sec. 4 in the Twp.; 13. east along the north boundary of Secs. 4 and 3 in the Twp. to the east boundary of Sec. 3 in the Twp.; 14. south along the east boundary to the north boundary of Twp. 75; 15. east along the north boundary to the right bank of the Smoky River; 16. downstream along the right bank of the Smoky River to the right bank of the Little Smoky River; 17. upstream along the right bank of the Little Smoky River to the east boundary of Rge. 24 W5; 18. south along the east boundary to the north boundary of Twp. 73; 19. east along the north boundary to the east boundary of Rge. 20 W5; 20. south along the east boundary to the north boundary of Twp. 70; 21. east along the north boundary of Twp. 70 to the east boundary of Rge. 19 W5; 22. south along Rge. 19 to the north boundary of Twp. 67; 23. east along the north boundary to the east boundary of Rge. 14 W5; 24. south along the east boundary to the north boundary of Twp. 62; 25. west along the north boundary of Twp. 62 to the east boundary of Rge. 15 W5; 26. south along the east boundary to the north boundary of Twp. 61; 27. west along the north boundary of Twp. 61 to the east boundary of Rge. 16 W5; 28. south along the east boundary to the right bank of the Athabasca River; 29. upstream along the right bank of the Athabasca River to the right bank of the Berland River; 30. upstream along the right bank of the Berland River to the east boundary of Rge. 25 W5; 31. north along the east boundary to the north boundary of Twp. 62; 32. west along the north boundary to its most westerly intersection with the left bank of the Smoky River; 33. downstream along the left bank to the right bank of the Wapiti River; 34. upstream along the right bank to the east boundary of Sec. 19 in Twp. 70, Rge. 5 W6; 35. north along the east boundary of Secs. 19, 30 and 31 in the Twp. to the north boundary of Twp. 70; 36. west along the north boundary to the centre line of the Alberta RailNet Inc.; 37. in a generally northerly direction along the centre line of the Alberta RailNet Inc. to the south Grande Prairie city boundary; 38. east and north along the city boundary to the centre line of 100 Avenue (Richmond Avenue); 39. west along the centre line of 100 Avenue to the west Grande Prairie city boundary; 40. in a generally northerly and easterly direction along the city boundary to the intersection with the right bank of the Bear River; 41. upstream along the right bank of the Bear River to the intersection with the right bank of the Grande Prairie Creek; 42. upstream along the right bank of the Grande Prairie Creek to the north boundary of Twp. 72; 43. west along the north boundary to the east boundary of Rge. 7; 44. north along the east boundary of Rge. 7 to the starting point. |
| Note: |
Electoral history
The electoral district was created in the 1993 boundary redistribution primarily from the old Smoky River and Whitecourt riding's. The first election held that year saw Progressive Conservative Smoky River incumbent Walter Paszkowski win a comfortable majority to pick up the seat for his party. He ran for a second term winning a larger majority in the 1997 election. He retired from the legislature at dissolution in 2001.
The current representative is Progressive Conservative Mel Knight who won his first election in 2001 with a massive majority taking 67% of the popular vote. He was re-elected to his second term in the 2004 election with a very large, but reduced majority.
Premier Ed Stelmach appointed Mel Knight as Minister of Energy in 2006. He won a slightly higher majority running for a third term in the 2008 general election. Knight was shuffled out of the Energy portfolio in 2010 and he currently serves as the Minister of Sustainable Resource Development.
Election results
1993 general election
1997 general election
2001 general election
2004 general election
2004 Senate nominee election district results
| 2004 Senate nominee election results: Grande Prairie-Smoky[7] |
Turnout 35.30% |
| Affiliation |
Candidate |
Votes |
% Votes |
% Ballots |
Rank |
| |
Progressive Conservative |
Cliff Breitkreuz |
3,304 |
16.08% |
50.85% |
3 |
| |
Progressive Conservative |
Betty Unger |
2,831 |
13.77% |
43.57% |
2 |
| |
Progressive Conservative |
Bert Brown |
2,779 |
13.52% |
42.77% |
1 |
| |
Independent |
Link Byfield |
2,124 |
10.34% |
32.69% |
4 |
| |
Progressive Conservative |
David Usherwood |
1,872 |
9.11% |
28.81% |
6 |
| |
Progressive Conservative |
Jim Silye |
1,775 |
8.64% |
27.32% |
5 |
| |
Alberta Alliance |
Michael Roth |
1,645 |
8.01% |
25.32% |
7 |
| |
Alberta Alliance |
Gary Horan |
1,492 |
7.26% |
22.96% |
10 |
| |
Alberta Alliance |
Vance Gough |
1,477 |
7.19% |
22.73% |
8 |
| |
Independent |
Tom Sindlinger |
1,251 |
6.08% |
19.26% |
9 |
| Total Votes |
20,550 |
100% |
| Total Ballots |
6,497 |
3.16 Votes Per Ballot |
| Rejected, Spoiled and Declined |
1,299 |
Voters had the option of selecting 4 Candidates on the Ballot
2008 general election
2004 Student Vote
| Participating Schools[9] |
| Grande Prairie Composite HS |
| Harry Balfour School |
| Harry Gray Elementary School |
| Hillside Jr-Sr High School |
| Peace Wapiti Academy |
| Sexsmith Secondary School |
| St. Marys School |
| St. Stephens |
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.
References
External links