# Lac La Biche, Alberta

Lac La Biche (/ˌlæk lə ˈbɪʃ/ LAK lə BISH) is a hamlet in Lac La Biche County within northeast Alberta, Canada. It is located approximately 220 km (140 mi) northeast of the provincial capital of Edmonton. Previously incorporated as a town, Lac La Biche amalgamated with Lakeland County to form Lac La Biche County on August 1, 2007.

## Etymology

The indigenous peoples of the area refer to the lake as Elk Lake (Plains Cree: wâwâskesiwisâkahikan, Chipewyan: tzalith tway). The earliest Europeans translated this name into English as "Red Deer Lake" and in French as "lac la Biche" ("lake of the doe"). Over time, the French name came to be used in English as well.

## History
### Historic voyageur highway

Lac La Biche was on the historical voyageur route that linked the Athabaskan region to Hudson Bay. David Thompson and George Simpson used the fur trade route via the Beaver River from the main Methye Portage route that reached the Athabasca River. Thompson was the first known European to record his sojourn on Lac La Biche. Thompson, who referred to the lake as Red Deers Lake, arrived October 4, 1798 and overwintered there. He entered copious notes in his diary on the Nahathaway (the Cree), their customs, traditions, and the Western Forest Land, including the large supply of whitefish and beaver.

### Fur trade posts

Although the Montreal-based North West Company was already active in the area, Thompson established the first permanent settlement in Lac La Biche on his 1798 trip, a Hudson's Bay Company trading post which he named Red Deers Lake House. In 1799, Peter Fidler arrived in the area after Thompson's departure, and as the post. This new structure was known as Greenwich House. It was also abandoned by 1801, but Lac La Biche was established as a permanent place of residence for some French-Canadian and Métis freetraders and their families. Fur trade activity continued unbroken, due to the importance of the portage, and Lac La Biche was visited by fur traders such as Gabriel Franchère and Ross Cox. David Thompson returned in 1812.
Another temporary Hudson's Bay Company post was erected in 1817, but the portage was abandoned by the company in 1825. Almost no written records exist for the following two decades.
On 26 April 1885, during the North-West Rebellion, the Hudson's Bay Company post in Lac La Biche was raided by Cree forces.

### Oblate mission

A Roman Catholic mission was established in 1853 by Oblate missionaries. Historian Paul Robert Magocsi notes how the settlement grew over the next few decades:
   "The French-speaking element, mostly from Red River, coalesced around the Mission. It formed a community that was tightly knit, even though the influence of the church lessened and the trend was towards marrying out and establishing nuclear families. Living was largely off the land; logging and road work provided intermittent wage labour. Many of the adults were trilingual, speaking French and Cree as well as English."
The Lac La Biche Mission is now a National Historic Site and Provincial Historic Resource. It was the site of one of the first residential schools in Alberta.

### Treaties and insurrection

The Government of Canada sought to extinguish the First Nations' title to the land across the prairies, in order to open the land up to settlement. Treaty 6 was negotiated in 1876 and covered the lands to the south of Lac La Biche.
The new Hudson's Bay Company post at Lac La Biche was looted on April 26, 1885, during the North-West Rebellion by members of Big Bear's band. Their plan to loot the nearby Roman Catholic mission was stopped by the local Cree and Métis population. Métis scrip records show many residents of the area were awarded scrip by the Government of Canada from 1885 until the 1920s.
Treaty 8, covering the lands north of Lac La Biche, was negotiated in 1899. This set the stage for railway construction and settlement.

## Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Lac La Biche had a population of 3,215 living in 1,236 of its 1,505 total private dwellings, a change of -3.2% from its 2016 population of 3,320. With a land area of 68.39 km$^2$ (26.41 sq mi), it had a population density of 47.0/km$^2$ (121.8/sq mi) in 2021.
As a designated place in the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Lac La Biche had a population of 2,314 living in 895 of its 1,048 total private dwellings, a change of -8.2% from its 2011 population of 2,520. With a land area of 6.05 km$^2$ (2.34 sq mi), it had a population density of 382.5/km$^2$ (990.6/sq mi) in 2016.
Lac La Biche County's 2016 municipal census counted a population of 2,682 in Lac La Biche, a -7.4% change from its 2013 municipal census population of 2,895.
Panethnic groups in the Dissolved Municipality (former Town) of Lac La Biche (1971−2021) :
| Panethnic group | 2021 | 2021 | 2016 | 2016 | 2006 | 2006 | 2001 | 2001 | 1996 | 1996 | 1991 | 1991 | 1986$^{:85}$ | 1986$^{:85}$ | 1981 | 1981 | 1971 | 1971 |
| Panethnic group | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % |
| European | 1,445 | 49.4% | 1,055 | 49.88% | 1,545 | 57.87% | 1,450 | 53.9% | 1,540 | 60.99% | 1,370 | 55.24% | 1,480 | 58.04% | 1,270 | 60.05% | 1,200 | 69.97% |
| Indigenous | 775 | 26.5% | 695 | 32.86% | 925 | 34.64% | 925 | 34.39% | 590 | 23.37% | 815 | 32.86% | 725 | 28.43% | 610 | 28.84% | 345 | 20.12% |
| Southeast Asian | 300 | 10.26% | 135 | 6.38% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 10 | 0.4% | 20 | 0.81% | 0 | 0% | — | — | — | — |
| Middle Eastern | 225 | 7.69% | 135 | 6.38% | 180 | 6.74% | 290 | 10.78% | 265 | 10.5% | 220 | 8.67% | 305 | 11.96% | 225 | 10.64% | 160 | 9.33% |
| South Asian | 85 | 2.91% | 50 | 2.36% | 10 | 0.37% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| East Asian | 20 | 0.68% | 25 | 1.18% | 10 | 0.37% | 0 | 0% | 10 | 0.4% | 10 | 0.4% | 10 | 0.39% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| African | 20 | 0.68% | 35 | 1.65% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 85 | 3.37% | 35 | 1.41% | 30 | 1.18% | 10 | 0.47% | 0 | 0% |
| Latin American | 20 | 0.68% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 15 | 0.56% | 0 | 0% | 10 | 0.4% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| Other/multiracial | 15 | 0.51% | 0 | 0% | 10 | 0.37% | 10 | 0.37% | 25 | 0.99% | — | — | — | — | — | — | 5 | 0.29% |
| Total responses | 2,925 | 93.75% | 2,115 | 63.7% | 2,670 | 96.81% | 2,690 | 96.9% | 2,525 | 96.71% | 2,480 | 97.29% | 2,550 | 99.88% | 2,115 | 105.38% | 1,715 | 95.76% |
| Total population | 3,120 | 100% | 3,320 | 100% | 2,758 | 100% | 2,776 | 100% | 2,611 | 100% | 2,549 | 100% | 2,553 | 100% | 2,007 | 100% | 1,791 | 100% |
| Note: Totals greater than 100% due to multiple origin responses |||||||||||||||||||

## Economy

The community is supported by the oil patch, logging, forestry, agriculture, and commercial fishing.
Jamie Davis Towing (featured on the Highway Thru Hell reality show) has an operation in Lac La Biche.

## Attractions

Lac La Biche is home to the Lac La Biche Golf Course, while numerous lakes and campgrounds provide outdoor recreation opportunities in the area, including Lakeland Provincial Park to the east. Lac La Biche County has a small museum dedicated to sharing the history of the area, it is located in the Jubilee Hall building, beside the recreation grounds where the baseball diamonds, splash park, and green space are also located.

## Government

MLAs representing Lac La Biche :
| Assembly | Years | Member | Party |
| Part of Victoria (N.W.T.) |||||
| 3rd | 1894–1898 | Frank Tims | Independent |
| 4th | 1898–1902 | Jack Shera | Independent |
| 5th | 1902–1905 | Jack Shera | Independent |
| Part of Victoria |||||
| 1st | 1905–1909 | Francis Walker | Liberal |
| Part of Pakan |||||
| 2nd | 1909–1913 | Prosper-Edmond Lessard | Liberal |
| Part of Beaver River |||||
| 3rd | 1913–1917 | Wilfrid Gariépy | Liberal |
| 4th | 1917–1921 | Wilfrid Gariépy | Liberal |
| 5th | 1921–1926 | Joseph Dechêne | Liberal |
| 6th | 1926–1930 | John Delisle | United Farmers |
| 7th | 1930–1935 | Henry Dakin | Liberal |
| 8th | 1935–1940 | Lucien Maynard | Social Credit |
| 9th | 1940–1944 | Lucien Maynard | Social Credit |
| 10th | 1944–1948 | Lucien Maynard | Social Credit |
| 11th | 1948–1952 | Harry Lobay | Social Credit |
| Part of Lac La Biche |||||
| 12th | 1952–1955 | Harry Lobay | Social Credit |
| 13th | 1955–1959 | Michael Maccagno | Liberal |
| 14th | 1959–1963 | Michael Maccagno | Liberal |
| 15th | 1963–1967 | Michael Maccagno | Liberal |
| 16th | 1967–1968 | Michael Maccagno | Liberal |
| 16th | 1968 | Vacant | Vacant |
| 16th | 1968–1971 | Damase Bouvier | Social Credit |
| Part of Lac La Biche-McMurray |||||
| 17th | 1971–1972 | Damase Bouvier | Social Credit |
| 17th | 1972–1975 | Damase Bouvier | Independent |
| 18th | 1975–1979 | Ron Tesolin | Progressive Conservative |
| 19th | 1979–1982 | Norm Weiss | Progressive Conservative |
| 20th | 1982–1986 | Norm Weiss | Progressive Conservative |
| Part of Athabasca-Lac La Biche |||||
| 21st | 1986–1989 | Léo Piquette | New Democrat |
| 22nd | 1989–1993 | Mike Cardinal | Progressive Conservative |
| Part of Lac La Biche-St. Paul |||||
| 23rd | 1993–1994 | Paul Langevin | Liberal |
| 23rd | 1994–1995 | Paul Langevin | Independent |
| 23rd | 1995–1997 | Paul Langevin | Progressive Conservative |
| 24th | 1997–2001 | Paul Langevin | Progressive Conservative |
| 25th | 2001–2004 | Ray Danyluk | Progressive Conservative |
| 26th | 2004–2008 | Ray Danyluk | Progressive Conservative |
| 27th | 2008–2012 | Ray Danyluk | Progressive Conservative |
| Part of Lac La Biche-St. Paul-Two Hills |||||
| 28th | 2012–2015 | Shayne Saskiw | Wildrose |
| 29th | 2015–2017 | Dave Hanson | Wildrose |
| 29th | 2017–2019 | Dave Hanson | United Conservative |
| Part of Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche |||||
| 30th | 2019–2021 | Laila Goodridge | United Conservative |
| 30th | 2022–2023 | Brian Jean | United Conservative |
| 31st | 2023– | Brian Jean | United Conservative |
The Hamlet of Lac La Biche comprises Lac La Biche County's Ward 7. Omer Moghrabi was elected as mayor in 2017, Councillors Lorin Tkachuk and Colin Cote represent Ward 7 on Lac La Biche County Council. Provincially, the community has been represented by every major political party in Alberta history (expand table for details).

## Infrastructure

Lac La Biche Airport (YLB) is located 1.5 nautical miles (2.8 km; 1.7 mi) west of Lac La Biche. It features a fully serviced 5,700 by 100 ft (1,737 by 30 m) paved airstrip.

## Education

The main campus of Portage College is located in Lac La Biche. The college has an ACAC hockey team named the Portage Voyageurs. The team's first season began in the fall of 2008.

### Northern Lights School Division No. 69

* Vera M. Welsh Elementary School (K-3)
* Aurora Middle School (4–8)
* J.A. Williams High School (9–12)
* Lac La Biche Off-Campus (8–12)

### Other

* Light of Christ Catholic School (Preschool-Grade 11)
* École Sainte-Catherine (K-4)

## Media

Media outlets serving Lac La Biche and area include the Lac La Biche Post weekly newspaper and the Boom 103.5 radio station.