Come the next federal election, Drumheller might be in a different electoral district, judging by the proposed new boundaries.
The Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission has proposed a new electoral map for consideration. With it Drumhellerm may no longer be in the Battle River-Crowfoot Constituency, represented by Damien Kurek, but in the Bow River Constituency, currently represented by Martin Shields. The Commission is looking for feedback from residents.
“To give Albertans more time to participate in the process, the Commission has extended the deadline to request to make a representation at a public hearing to August 15 instead of July 31. We look forward to hearing from the public," said the Honourable Justice Bruce McDonald, chair of the three-member Commission. Donald Barry and Donna Wilson are the other members responsible for the readjustment of the province's federal electoral boundaries.
Every 10 years, 10 Electoral Boundary Commissions are struck to report on the readjustment of the representation of the provinces in the House of Commons to reflect changes in population in each province. Alberta’s population has increased from 3,645,257 in 2011 to 4,262,635, and they are proposing adding three seats to the province to reflect this growth.
This means the commission is charged with redrawing the boundaries into 37 electoral divisions that have reasonably equal population representation. Each division has a quota of 115,206 and cannot deviated by more than 25 per cent.
According to the report, “The southern boundary of the Battle River—Crowfoot electoral district is proposed to be moved north to follow the southern limits of Paintearth County No. 18 and Special Area No. 4, and to proceed along Highway 589. The proposed northern boundary is, for the most part, defined by the Yellowhead Highway. The municipalities of Lloydminster and Vegreville are to be located within the electoral district of Battle River—Crowfoot.”
Similarly, “the boundaries of the Bow River electoral district are proposed to be moved north and east to the Alberta-Saskatchewan border. A number of communities currently in the Bow River electoral district are proposed to be reassigned to other electoral districts. Chestermere, Beiseker and Irricana are proposed to be reassigned to the new Airdrie—Chestermere electoral district, with the Town of Vulcan being moved into the electoral district of Foothills. On the other hand, proposed to be added to the electoral district of Bow River are the following centres: Drumheller, Hanna, Innisfail, Bowden, Oyen, Three Hills, Youngtown, Trochu, Barons, Nobleford and Picture Butte.”
Public hearings are scheduled through September and October in Alberta to solicit feedback on the proposals.
Those wishing to make a presentation at a hearing, send a notice to the Commission no later than August 15, 2022 by mailing it to the Commission's office at:
PO Box 45062
Calgary AB,
T2G 4X3

or, emailing:
AB@redecoupage-
federal-redistribution.ca

On July 24, 2022 at 10:14 p.m., Stettler RCMP were dispatched to a report of a disturbance involving several people in front of a residence in Stettler. While the officers were patrolling in the area, they were flagged down by a female who reported she had allegedly been threatened by an adult male with a weapon.

The male was located by officers in a nearby alley. An interaction occurred wherein one officer discharged their service weapon and another discharged a conducted energy weapon. First aid was administered by RCMP officers on scene. Emergency Medical Services attended to provide assistance and the suspect was transported by STARS Air Ambulance to an Edmonton area hospital where he remains in stable condition.

Stettler RCMP contained the area with assistance from Three Hills and Bashaw RCMP. The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) has taken over carriage of the investigation into the circumstances of the officer involved shooting.

The Alberta RCMP believes in processes that seek the facts and it’s important that processes taken to assess the actions of all those involved, including the police, are fair, transparent, and defendable. This is why, as soon as we became aware of this incident, we immediately notified the Director of Law Enforcement and initiated our internal review process.

Independent of ASIRT’s investigation, the Alberta RCMP’s internal review process has been implemented to gather a full account of what took place during this incident. RCMP training, policy, police response, and the duty status of the members involved will be subject to review. The Alberta RCMP is, of course, fully cooperating with ASIRT and will not be commenting further on this incident. All media inquiries about this incident should now be directed to ASIRT at 780-641-9099.