Edmonton - Spruce Grove

This riding contains part of Parkland County, including Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Spring Lake and the Stony Plain reserve. It also covers the southwest corner of Edmonton, encompassed by the city limits, the Yellowhead Trail, the CN Rail line, 170th Street, Whitemud Drive and the North Saskatchewan River.

Nearly 16 per cent of people in the riding are immigrants. Eighty-two per cent of the population list English as their mother tongue, while under two per cent list French. Chinese, Tagalog, German, Ukrainian and Russian are among other languages listed in the 2006 census.

Retail trade, health and social services, and construction are major employers. The average family income is $98,694 and unemployment is four per cent.

Edmonton-Spruce Grove was created in 2004 by combining 39 per cent of the riding of St. Albert with 33 per cent of Edmonton Southwest, 25 per cent of Edmonton West and a small section of Yellowhead.

Population: 128,945 (2006 census; an increase of 15.5% since 2001)

Political History

In 2006, Conservative Rona Ambrose won her second term in the riding. She beat Liberal Brad Enge by 29,000 votes. Ambrose served as environment minister before being appointed minister of intergovernmental affairs in January 2007. In 2004, Ambrose defeated Liberal Neil Mather to become MP.

In the previous three elections, St. Albert was the turf of John Williams of the Reform/Canadian Alliance. In 2000, he won by 19,108 votes over Liberal Bob Russell. In 2004, Williams ran and won in the new riding of Edmonton-St. Albert.

In 1988, a Progressive Conservative, Walter Van De Walle, won the St. Albert riding.

Edmonton-Spruce Grove:

• 2004, 2006 - CON