# Athabasca-Redwater

Athabasca-Redwater was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first-past-the-post method of voting from 2004 to 2012.
The district in rural northern Alberta was created in the 2004 boundary redistribution out of a large portion of Barrhead-Westlock and Athabasca-Wabasca in the north as well as a portion of Redwater on the eastern side. The district had three major towns: Bon Accord, Redwater and Athabasca.
The district and its antecedents favored Progressive Conservative candidates in recent years. There were two representatives in the district.

## History

The Athabasca-Redwater electoral district was created in the 2003 electoral boundary re-distribution from parts of the electoral districts of Athabasca-Wabasca, Barrhead-Westlock and Redwater.
The 2010 electoral boundary re-distribution saw the electoral district change to align to new municipal boundaries on the northern and western edges. The electoral district was renamed Athabasca-Sturgeon-Redwater. The change in name and boundaries took effect at the drop of the writ for the 2012 Alberta general election.

### Boundary history

44 Athabasca-Redwater 2003 boundaries :
| Bordering districts ||||
| North | East | West | South |
| Lesser Slave Lake, Lac La Biche-St. Paul | Lac La Biche-St. Paul | Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock, Lesser Slave Lake, Spruce Grove-Sturgeon-St. Albert | Edmonton-Castle Downs, Edmonton-Decore, Edmonton-Manning, Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville, St. Albert |
| | | map in relation to other districts in Alberta goes here | map in relation to other districts in Alberta goes here |
| Legal description from Electoral Divisions Act, S.A. 2003, c. E-4.1 ||||
| Starting at the intersection of the north boundary of Twp. 75 and the east boundary of Rge. 26 W4; then 1. east along the north boundary to the east boundary of Rge. 16 W4; 2. south along the east boundary of Rge. 16 to the north boundary of Sec. 13, Twp. 69, Rge 16 W4; 3. west along the north boundary of Secs. 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 to the east boundary of Rge. 17 W4; 4. south along the east boundary of Rge. 17 to the north boundary of the Buffalo Lake Métis Settlement (at the north boundary of Twp. 64); 5. west and south along the Métis Settlement boundary to the north boundary of Sec. 13 in Twp. 63, Rge. 18 W4; 6. south along the east boundary of Secs. 13, 12 and 1 to the north boundary of Twp. 62; 7. west along the north boundary of Twp. 62 to the east boundary of Sec. 34 in Twp. 62, Rge. 18 W4; 8. south along the east boundary of Secs. 34, 27, 22, 15, 10 and 3 to the north boundary of Twp. 61; 9. east along the north boundary to the east boundary of Rge. 16 W4; 10. south along the east boundary of Rge. 16 W4 to the right bank of the North Saskatchewan River; 11. upstream along the right bank to the Edmonton city boundary; 34. west along the north boundary of Twp. 68 to the east boundary of Rge. 26 W4; 35. north along the east boundary of Rge. 26 W4 to the starting point. ||||
| Note: ||||

### Representation history

Members of the Legislative Assembly for Athabasca-Redwater :
| Assembly | Years | Member | Party |
| See Athabasca-Wabasca 1993-2004, Barrhead-Westlock 1993-2004 and Redwater 1993-2004 |||||
| 26th | 2004–2008 | Mike Cardinal | Progressive Conservative |
| 27th | 2008–2012 | Jeff Johnson | Progressive Conservative |
| See Athabasca-Sturgeon-Redwater 2012-present |||||
The electoral district was created in the 2004 boundary redistribution. The election held that year saw incumbent Progressive Conservative Cabinet Minister Mike Cardinal who previously represented the Athabasca-Wabasca electoral district win here. He defeated five other candidates with just under half the popular vote to pick up the new district for his party.
Cardinal kept his spot in cabinet and was shuffled to the Human Resources and Employment portfolio by Premier Ralph Klein. He was shuffled to the backbenches in 2006 and retired from the legislature at dissolution 2008.
The second representative of the district was Progressive Conservative MLA Jeff Johnson. He was elected for the first time in 2008 with a landslide majority.

## Legislative election results
### 2004

vte2004 Alberta general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Mike Cardinal | 5,707 | 47.68% | – |
| | Liberal | Nicole Belland | 3,253 | 27.18% | – |
| | New Democratic | Peter Opryshko | 1,397 | 11.67% | – |
| | Alberta Alliance | Sean Whelan | 1,184 | 9.89% | – |
| | Greens | Luke De Smet | 252 | 2.11% | – |
| | Social Credit | Leonard Fish | 177 | 1.48% | – |
| Total | Total | Total | 11,970 | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 53 | – | – |
| Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | 24,074 | 49.94% | – |
| | Progressive Conservative pickup new district. | Progressive Conservative pickup new district. | Progressive Conservative pickup new district. | Progressive Conservative pickup new district. | Progressive Conservative pickup new district. | Progressive Conservative pickup new district. | Progressive Conservative pickup new district. |
| Source(s) Source: "Elections Alberta 2004 General Election". Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020. |||||||

### 2008

vte2008 Alberta general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Jeff Johnson | 7,484 | 67.99% | 20.31% |
| | Liberal | Bill Bonko Jr. | 1,379 | 12.53% | -14.65% |
| | New Democratic | Peter Opryshko | 1,225 | 11.13% | -0.54% |
| | Wildrose Alliance | Mike Radojcic | 517 | 4.70% | – |
| | Green | Phyllis Penchuk | 403 | 3.66% | 1.55% |
| Total | Total | Total | 11,008 | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 15 | – | – |
| Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | 24,394 | 45.19% | – |
| | Progressive Conservative hold | Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | Swing | 17.48% |
| Source(s) Source: "Elections Alberta 2008 General Election". Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020. |||||||

## Senate nominee election results
### 2004

| 2004 Senate nominee election results: Athabasca-Redwater | 2004 Senate nominee election results: Athabasca-Redwater | 2004 Senate nominee election results: Athabasca-Redwater | 2004 Senate nominee election results: Athabasca-Redwater | 2004 Senate nominee election results: Athabasca-Redwater | Turnout 50.02% | Turnout 50.02% |
| | Affiliation | Candidate | Votes | % votes | % ballots | Rank |
| | Progressive Conservative | Betty Unger | 4,603 | 14.53% | 45.84% | 2 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Bert Brown | 4,112 | 12.98% | 40.95% | 1 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Cliff Breitkreuz | 3,813 | 12.04% | 37.97% | 3 |
| | Independent | Link Byfield | 3,405 | 10.75% | 33.91% | 4 |
| | Alberta Alliance | Michael Roth | 3,017 | 9.52% | 30.05% | 7 |
| | Alberta Alliance | Gary Horan | 2,823 | 8.91% | 28.12% | 10 |
| | Alberta Alliance | Vance Gough | 2,800 | 8.84% | 27.89% | 8 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Jim Silye | 2,466 | 7.78% | 24.56% | 5 |
| | Progressive Conservative | David Usherwood | 2,450 | 7.73% | 24.40% | 6 |
| | Independent | Tom Sindlinger | 2,193 | 6.92% | 21.84% | 9 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 31,682 | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Total ballots | Total ballots | Total ballots | 10,041 | 3.16 votes per ballot | 3.16 votes per ballot | 3.16 votes per ballot |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 962 | 962 | 962 | 962 |
Voters had the option of selecting four candidates on the ballot.

## Student vote results
### 2004

* Participating schools
* Guthrie School
* H.A. Kostash School
* Lilian Schick school
* Namao school
* Newbrook School
* Sturgeon Composite High School
* Thorhild Central 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 had 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 who resided in another electoral district had the option to vote for candidates outside of the electoral district than where they were physically located.
2004 Alberta student vote results :
| | Affiliation | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Progressive Conservative | Mike Cardinal | 337 | 36.39% |
| | Green | Luke de Smet | 185 | 19.98% |
| | Liberal | Nicole Belland | 173 | 18.68% |
| | New Democratic | Peter Opryshko | 110 | 11.88% |
| | Alberta Alliance | Sean Whelan | 69 | 7.45% |
| | Social Credit | Leonard Fish | 52 | 5.62% |
| Total | Total | Total | 926 | 100% |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 42 | 42 |