Brooks Residents Want to Remain In Medicine Hat Riding, Hatters Say NO
Commissioners Susan Samson and John Evans with Cypress Medicine Hat MLA Justin Wright
The Alberta Electoral Boundaries Commission Was In Medicine Hat on Friday
I expected it to be a boring exercise; I was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be anything but.
With the increase in population since the last time they adjusted the boundaries, the goal is to add two more ridings with an average of just under 55,000 people. The ridings are permitted to vary by 25% with an approximate minimum of 41,2000, maximum of 68,700. (The Brooks - Medicine Hat riding is almost exactly average, the Cypress Medicine Hat riding is lower by 1.7%)
The commission is comprised of 5 members - many will recognize the name of Honourable Justice Dallas K. Miller who has served as a judge in Medicine Hat. Dr. Julian Martin of Sherwood Park is a retired professor from the University of Alberta. John D. Evans, KC, of Lethbridge was born and raised in Brooks, Alberta. Greg Clark is a former Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Susan Samson is a former Municipal Councillor and Mayor of Sylvan Lake.
From the website
The Commission will consider the following in making recommendations to the Legislative Assembly:
Your input
Populations figures and relative population density throughout the province
Common community interests
Geographic features and natural boundaries
Effective representation
The Commission said they were impressed by the turnout in Medicine Hat, the highest number of attendees so far and the most engaged. Their tour of Alberta wraps up this week in Red Deer. There are also two virtual public hearings on June 23, one in the morning, one in the evening.
Bipartisan Support for Removing Brooks from Brooks - Medicine Hat Riding
We heard from a variety of people including 4 former MLAs who supported the same principle, that Medicine Hat should not include the Brooks riding - The Honourable Jim Horsman, the Honourable Rob Renner and the Honourable Bob Wanner (Speaker of the House #13), the Honourable Dr David Carter (Speaker of the House #9).
Dr David Carter also raised the issue of safety in the Legislature, that adding two more seats makes an evacuation more dangerous. He has intimate knowledge of the layout given that he was responsible for overseeing the renovations to the Chamber in the mid 1980s including additional spectator seating, upgraded audio/visual capabilities, improved acoustics and a fresh look.
We heard from Griffin Bray, an impressive young man who also suggested that Medicine Hat be separate from Brooks. His reasons included
proper representation - Brooks needs their own MLA
sexual and gender representation is important
the concerns of urban vs rural are very different.
a lot of his communities don't exist in Brooks, that people his age feel disenfranchised
A lot of his community does not exist in Brooks, especially the Metis community.
A split into 2 urban ridings would help them feel like participating more. He suggested that the ridings of Medicine Hat be named
Medicine Hat - Cypress
Medicine Hat - Redcliff
Justice MIller quipped “it was a trial marriage and we should split up”, Braay agreed.
Susan Samsom said he was likely the youngest of all of the people. She also said she had an issue of how the ridings are named, citing her own riding of Innisfail - Sylvan Lake; Sylvan Lake being twice the size of Innisfail.
Jim Black (Past Candidate for the Alberta Party) believes that Brooks should have its own MLA, citing cases of doctors leaving Brooks when the local health authority refused to allow for certain services in Brooks which would prevent people from having to travel to Medicine Hat for the same treatment.
Black also spoke of how the Bassano hospital lost half of their beds which provided vital treatment for accident victims in what is called the Golden Hour - the vital 60 minutes following a trauma.
Humour Made it Into the Record
There was a certain amount of self deprecating humour during the meeting which made a boring subject much more interesting.
Dr David Carter and Bob Wanner are the 9th and 13th Speakers of the House; they were often called #9 and #13 for most of the meeting.
The Honourable Jim Horsman said
“He (Bob Wanner) went through it very carefully and made these proposals and so I must tell you that when he gave me his submission I said this is going to be very hard for me to support the submission by an NDPer. I do because I recognize his experience both in municipal governance and in the legislative assembly process… I thought it was an extremely useful presentation and I'm here as a supporter of that proposal rather than to advance anything on my own initiation.”
The bipartisanship was not lost on the Commission
“Your willingness to be bipartisan and to support a good idea regardless of it coming from number 13 is a great example for this committee and this commission… that's what we're striving to do as well is to set partisan politics aside to come up with…the best solution we can come up with and and hopefully to have it a unanimous one.”
It ended with Justice MIller saying
“I must say this without a doubt has been the most engaged public hearing we've participated in.”
The next electoral boundaries revisions will not be due until after 2 more elections - no sooner than 8 years and no more than 10 years.
You can listen to all of the public hearings here.
A report will be presented to the Legislature in October 2025.
