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Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo

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Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo
Alberta electoral district
Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo within Alberta, 2017 boundaries
Provincial electoral district
LegislatureLegislative Assembly of Alberta
MLA
 
 
 
Tany Yao
United Conservative
District created2003
First contested2004
Last contested2023

Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo is a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada. The district is one of 87 districts mandated to return a single member (MLA) to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting.

The district had in recent years been favourable to the election of Progressive Conservative candidates, a trend broken when Tany Yao won it for the Wildrose. Yao joined the United Conservative Party when the Wildrose merged with the PCs.

Geography

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Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo is a largely rural riding in the northeast corner of Alberta. Municipally, the riding consists of the northern part of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo and almost all of Improvement District No. 24. The riding is home to the bulk of industrial activity relating to the Athabasca oil sands.

The major urban centre in the region, Fort McMurray, is split between this riding and Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche, with the northern neighbourhood of Timberlea falling within the boundaries of Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo. Other communities in the riding include the hamlets of Fort Chipewyan, Fort Fitzgerald, and Fort McKay.

Three First Nation band governments are based in Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo: Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, Fort McKay First Nation, and Mikisew Cree First Nation. Smith's Landing First Nation is based outside of the riding but has several reserves within its boundaries. All of these bands are signatories of Treaty 8.

In addition to Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche to the south, Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo also borders the riding of Lesser Slave Lake to the southwest, the riding of Peace River to the west, the Northwest Territories to the north, and the province of Saskatchewan to the east.

History

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The electoral district was created in the 2004 electoral boundary re-distribution by merging the electoral district of Fort McMurray with a portion of Athabasca-Wabasca residing in the Municipal district of Wood Buffalo.[1]

The decade that went by since the district was created saw significant population growth due to exploration and development of the oil sands. The 2010 electoral boundary re-distribution resulted in the splitting of the district in two along north south lines creating Fort McMurray-Conklin in the eastern half.[2]

Boundary history

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Representation history

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Members of the Legislative Assembly for Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo
Assembly Years Member Party
See Athabasca-Wabasca 1993–2004, Fort McMurray, 1986–2004
and Lesser Slave Lake 1971–2004
26th 2004–2008 Guy Boutilier Progressive Conservative
27th 2008–2009
2009–2010 Independent
2010 Independent Wildrose Alliance
2010–2011 Wildrose Alliance
2011–2012 Wildrose
28th 2012–2013 Mike Allen Progressive Conservative
2013–2014 Independent
2014–2015 Progressive Conservative
29th 2015–2017 Tany Yao Wildrose
2017–2019 United Conservative
30th 2019–2023
31st 2023–

The electoral district was created in the 2003 boundary redistribution. The first election held that year saw Fort McMurray incumbent Progressive Conservative MLA Guy Boutilier win the new seat with a landslide over four other candidates to pick it up for his party.

Boutilier was appointed as Minister of Environment by Premier Ralph Klein in 2004. In 2006 he was shuffled to Minister of International Relations. He ran for a second term as a cabinet minister in the 2008 general election. That election saw him win another big majority.

On July 18, 2009 Boutilier was ejected from caucus by Premier Ed Stelmach after speaking out against the government over a broken promise to put a seniors care facility in Fort McMurray.[5] He sat as an Independent until joining the Wildrose Alliance caucus as an Independent member on June 24, 2010. On October 25, 2010 he became a full member of the caucus.[6]

However, Boutilier was defeated in 2012 by PC Mike Allen. Allen was also ejected from PC caucus in 2013 after being caught in a prostitution sting while on an official trip to Minnesota, but was readmitted to caucus in 2014.[7]

In the 2015 election, Allen was defeated by Wildrose candidate Tany Yao. When the Wildrose and PC parties merged in 2017, Yao joined the new United Conservative Party along with the rest of the Wildrose caucus.

Yao running as a member of the United Conservative Party would once again defeat NDP candidate Stephen Drover in the 2019 general election by a healthy margin of 7,140 votes.

Legislative election results

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2004

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2004 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Guy C. Boutilier 4,433 63.19%
Liberal Russell W. (Russ) Collicott 1,802 25.69%
New Democratic Dave Malka 462 6.59%
Alberta Alliance Eugene Eklund 224 3.19%
Independent Reginald (Reg) Normore 94 1.34%
Total 7,015
Rejected, spoiled and declined 12 41 1
Eligible electors / turnout 26,618 26.40%
Progressive Conservative pickup new district.
Source(s)
Source: Alberta. Chief Electoral Officer (2005). Report of the Chief Electoral Officer on the General Enumeration and General Election of the Twenty-sixth Legislative Assembly (Report). Edmonton: Alberta Legislative Assembly, Office of the Chief Electoral Officer. pp. 302–305.
"Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo Statement of Official Results 2004 Alberta general election" (PDF). Elections Alberta. Retrieved April 10, 2020.

2008

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2008 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Guy C. Boutilier 4,519 63.41 +0.21
Liberal Ross Jacobs 1,758 24.67 -1.02
New Democratic Mel Kraley 550 7.72 +1.13
Greens Reginald (Reg) Normore 300 4.21 +2.87
Total 7,127 99.62
Rejected, spoiled and declined 27 0.38 -0.39
Turnout 7,154 19.84 -6.71
Eligible electors 36,054
Progressive Conservative hold Swing +0.62
Source(s)
Source: "54 - Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo, 2008 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
The Report on the March 3, 2008 Provincial General Election of the Twenty-seventh Legislative Assembly (PDF). Elections Alberta. pp. 414–417. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

2012

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2012 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Mike Allen 3,609 48.99% –14.42%
Wildrose Alliance Guy C. Boutilier 3,164 42.95%
New Democratic Denise Woollard 372 5.05% –2.67%
Liberal Amy McBain 222 3.01% –21.65%
Total 7,367
Rejected, spoiled and declined 55 32 0
Eligible electors / turnout 21,843 33.98% +14.14%
Progressive Conservative hold Swing –16.35%
Source(s)
Source: "59 - Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo, 2012 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
Chief Electoral Officer (2012). The Report of the Chief Electoral Officer on the 2011 Provincial Enumeration and Monday, April 23, 2012 Provincial General Election of the Twenty-eighth Legislative Assembly (PDF) (Report). Edmonton, Alta.: Elections Alberta. pp. 352–355. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 6, 2021. Retrieved April 7, 2021.

2015

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2015 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Wildrose Tany Yao 3,835 40.03% -2.92%
New Democratic Stephen Drover 2,915 30.42% 25.38%
Progressive Conservative Mike Allen 2,486 25.95% -23.04%
Liberal Robin Le Fevre 345 3.60% 0.59%
Total 9,581
Rejected, spoiled and declined 37 34 5
Eligible electors / turnout 22,940 41.95% +7.97%
Wildrose gain from Progressive Conservative Swing 1.78%
Source(s)
Source: "59 - Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo, 2015 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
Chief Electoral Officer (2016). 2015 General Election. A Report of the Chief Electoral Officer (PDF) (Report). Edmonton, Alta.: Elections Alberta. pp. 325–326.

2019

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2019 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
United Conservative Tany Yao 10,269 71.06% 5.00%
New Democratic Stephen Drover 3,129 21.65% -8.77%
Alberta Party Marcus Erlandson 804 5.56%
Alberta Independence Michael Keller 249 1.72%
Total 14,451
Rejected, spoiled and declined 43 34 13
Eligible electors / turnout 22,497 64.48% 22.54%
United Conservative hold Swing 6.93%
Source(s)
Source: "61 - Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo, 2019 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
Alberta. Chief Electoral Officer (2019). 2019 General Election. A Report of the Chief Electoral Officer. Volume II (PDF) (Report). Vol. 2. Edmonton, Alta.: Elections Alberta. pp. 275–278. ISBN 978-1-988620-12-1. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
Change and swing for UCP candidate is based on the combination of Wildrose and PC candidate results.

2023

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2023 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
United Conservative Tany Yao 6,483 67.7 -3.36
New Democratic Tanika Chaisson 1,884 19.7 -1.95
Independent Funky Banjoko 625 6.5
Independent Zulkifl Mujahid 331 3.5
Alberta Party Bradley Friesen 255 2.7 -2.86
Total 10,455 100
Rejected and declined 86 0.5
Turnout 9,578 41.60
Eligible voters 23,219
United Conservative hold Swing -1.41
Source(s)

Senate nominee election results

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2004

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2004 Senate nominee election results: Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo[9] Turnout 26.45%
Affiliation Candidate Votes % votes % ballots Rank
Progressive Conservative Betty Unger 2,560 15.87% 50.23% 2
Progressive Conservative Bert Brown 2,218 13.75% 43.52% 1
Progressive Conservative Cliff Breitkreuz 1,882 11.67% 36.92% 3
Progressive Conservative David Usherwood 1,683 10.43% 33.02% 6
  Independent Link Byfield 1,509 9.36% 29.61% 4
Progressive Conservative Jim Silye 1,355 8.40% 26.58% 5
Alberta Alliance Michael Roth 1,338 8.30% 26.25% 7
  Independent Tom Sindlinger 1,233 7.64% 24.19% 9
Alberta Alliance Gary Horan 1,177 7.30% 23.09% 10
Alberta Alliance Vance Gough 1,176 7.28% 23.07% 8
Total votes 16,131 100%
Total ballots 5,097 3.17 votes per ballot
Rejected, spoiled and declined 1,839

Voters had the option of selecting four candidates on the ballot

2012

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Student vote results

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2004

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Participating schools[10]
Beacon Hill School
Dr. K.A. Clark School
Father Mercredi Catholic High School
Fort McMurray Christian School
Fort McMurray Composite High School
Timberlea Public School

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.

2004 Alberta student vote results[11]
Affiliation Candidate Votes %
Progressive Conservative Guy Boutilier 400 38.13%
  NDP Dave Malka 224 21.35%
  Independent Reginald Normore 199 18.97%
  Liberal Russell Collicott 163 15.54%
Alberta Alliance Eugene Eklund 63 6.01%
Total 1,049 100%
Rejected, spoiled and declined 40

2012

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2012 Alberta student vote results
Affiliation Candidate Votes %
Progressive Conservative Mike Allen %
Wildrose Guy Boutilier
  Liberal Amy McBain %
  NDP Denise Woollard %
Total 100%

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Alberta Electoral Boundaries Commission (February 2003). "Proposed Electoral Division Areas, Boundaries, and Names for Alberta. Final Report to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta". Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
  2. ^ Alberta Electoral Boundaries Commission (June 2010). "Proposed Electoral Division Areas, Boundaries, and Names for Alberta. Final Report to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta" (PDF). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. ISBN 978-0-9865367-1-7. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
  3. ^ Electoral Divisions Act, S.A. 2003, c. E-4.1
  4. ^ "Bill 28 Electoral Divisions Act" (PDF). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. 2010.
  5. ^ Braid, Don (July 17, 2009). "Bold critique of Stelmach endangers Alberta Tory MLA". Calgary Herald. Archived from the original on July 18, 2009. Retrieved July 18, 2009.
  6. ^ Bennett, Dean (June 25, 2010). "Former Alberta cabinet minister joins Wildrose Alliance". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved June 25, 2010.
  7. ^ "Alberta MLA Mike Allen back in PC Caucus". Global News. Retrieved May 10, 2018.
  8. ^ "61 - Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
  9. ^ "Senate Nominee Election 2004 Tabulation of Official Results" (PDF). Elections Alberta. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 4, 2009. Retrieved February 28, 2010.
  10. ^ "School by School results". Student Vote Canada. Archived from the original on October 5, 2007. Retrieved April 27, 2008.
  11. ^ "Riding by Riding Results - the Candidates". Student Vote Canada. Archived from the original on October 6, 2007. Retrieved April 19, 2008.
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