Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo

Location of Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo in Alberta

Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The largest district in terms of land mass, this district includes most of the North East Alberta and borders Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories The main communities are Fort McMurray, and Fort Chipewyan in the north, along the north shore of Lake Athabasca. The district also includes the gigantic Wood Buffalo National Park. This district is home to the oil sands and is helping drive the Alberta economy.

The district was created in the Alberta electoral boundary re-distribution of 2004 to encompass the entire regional municipality of Wood Buffalo. Prior to 2004, the community of Fort McMurray was an electoral district in its own right and the rest of the municipality was part of Athabasca-Wabasca. With a recorded population of 42,971 that is more than 20% above the provincial average, the new district is the most populous in Alberta.

Thebacha district in the Northwest Territories borders to the north. Deh Cho district in the Northwest Territories borders on the northwest corner. Athabasca district in Saskachewan borders to the east. Lac La Biche-St. Paul borders to the south. Lesser Slave Lake and Peace River border to the west.

Demographics

Total Population
42,617
52.5% Male
47.5% Female

21.4% Married
45.3% Single never married

Population by age

• 0-4 3,050 7.2%
• 5-19 10,540 24.8%
• 20-24 3,380 8.0%
• 25-44 15,675 36.9%
• 45-64 9,095 21.4%
• 65-74 605 1.4%
• 75+ 170 0.4%

Registered voters
26,292

Source Alberta Government

Local issues

• Labour Shortage in the oil patch
• Environment concerns from oil activity
• Housing shortage in Fort McMurray
• Cost of Housing in Fort McMurray
• Labour Shortage in the service sector
• Highway 63 in need of upgrades

Current riding associations

4 Associations Registered with Elections Alberta

• Alberta Alliance President Eugene Eklund
• Liberal, President ??
• NDP, President ??
• Progressive Conservative, President Jim Moore

Election results 2004

2004 Results
Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%	Progressive Conservative	Guy Boutilier	4,429	63.21%	Liberal	Russell Collicott	1,800	25.69%	N.D.P.	Dave Malka	460	6.57%	Alberta Alliance	Eugene Eklund	224	3.20%	Independent	Reginald Normore	94	1.33%

2004 Senator in waiting district results

2004 Senator in Waiting Results: Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo
Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%	Rank	Progressive Conservative	Betty Unger	2,553	16%	1	Progressive Conservative	Bert Brown	2,221	14%	2	Progressive Conservative	Cliff Breitkreuz	1,882	12%	3	Progressive Conservative	David Usherwood	1,686	10%	6	Independent	Link Byfield	1,498	9%	4	Progressive Conservative	Jim Silye	1,353	8%	5	Alberta Alliance	Michael Roth	1,334	8%	7	Independent	Tom Sindlinger	1,228	8%	9	Alberta Alliance	Vance Gough	1,175	7%	8	Alberta Alliance	Gary Horan	1,174	7%	10

Voters had the option of selecting 4 Candidates on the Ballot

Alberta Student Vote 2004

On November 19th 2004 a Student Vote was conducted at participating Alberta schools of all types, to parallel the 2004 Election results and to educate students about the electoral process. The vote was conducted in 80 of the 83 ridings.

Participating schools in Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo

• 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

Student Vote 2004 Results

2004 Student Vote Results
Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%	Progressive Conservative	Guy Boutilier	400	38.1%	N.D.P.	Dave Malka	224	21.4%	Independent	Reginald Normore	199	19.0%	Liberal	Russell Collicott	163	18.7%	Alberta Alliance	Eugene Eklund	63	6.0%

External links

• Electoral Divisions Act 2003
• Demographics for Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo
• Riding Map for Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo
• Website of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta
• Student Vote Alberta 2004