2004 Candidates:
David Coutts (PC)
George Lyster (Alberta Alliance)
Joyce Thomas (NDP)
Jim Walker (Separation Party)
Chris Watts (Green Party)
Craig Whitehead (Liberal)

Maps from Elections Alberta will open in a new window.

Riding Profile:
Near Alberta's southwest corner, Livingstone-Macleod runs from the peaks along the B.C. border to Lethbridge's eastern city limits, and from Waterton Lakes National Park in the south to the Nanton area in the north. In the 2004 redistribution the riding lost a small southern section between the Belly and Waterton Rivers, including the communities of Glenwood and Hillspring, and gained what used to be the southern end of Highwood, including Nanton, Stavely and Parkland. Other communities here include Fort Macleod, Claresholm, Crowsnest Pass, Granum and Pincher Creek. The riding is home to the Oldman River Dam and the Peigan First Nation.

Almost 20 per cent of the riding's residents are aboriginal. Almost 74 per cent of residents were born in Alberta, while another eight per cent are immigrants. The average household income is $46,972. Government transfer payments generate one-sixth of the local income - more than in any other riding. Agriculture provides the most jobs, followed by health and social services.

Political History:
Voters in this area have gone Tory for the past three decades. Incumbent and Government Services Minister David Coutts was elected in 1993 in the old riding of Pincher Creek-Macleod. That year, and every election since, his opponent has been Liberal Ernie Patterson. Patterson lost by 612 votes in 1993, 1,413 votes in 1997, and by a 2-1 margin in 2001. Prior to 1993, many of the voters in this riding were in the old ridings of Macleod and Pincher Creek-Crowsnest. The former riding elected PC Leroy Fjordbotten from 1979-93; the latter was served by Fred Bradley from 1975-93. Both men spent time in cabinet.

In 2001, voter turnout was 43.2 per cent.