Westlock - St. Paul

This east-central Alberta riding abuts Saskatchewan in the east and Edmonton in the south. Main centres include Bonnyville, Westlock, St. Paul, Cold Lake, Smoky Lake and Redwater. There are also several First Nations reserves.

More than 13 per cent of residents are aboriginal and fewer than five per cent are immigrants. Eighty-four per cent of residents listed English as their mother tongue in the 2006 census, six per cent listed French and 2.3 per cent an aboriginal language, mostly Cree.

Agriculture and oil and gas extraction are major employers, as are construction and retail trade. The Canadian Forces Base Cold Lake is also a source of economic activity. The average family income is $82,880 and unemployment is 4.6 per cent.

Westlock-St. Paul was created in 2004 from 46 per cent of Lakeland, 18 per cent of Elk Island, 15 per cent of St. Albert, 12 per cent of Athabaska and a tiny portion of Yellowhead.

Population: 101,010 (2006 census; an increase of 2.0% since 2001)

Political History

Conservative Brian Storseth earned the position of MP when he defeated Liberal Cory Ollikka in the 2006 election by a significant margin.

In 2004, Conservative Dave Chatters, the incumbent from the Athabaska riding, defeated Liberal Joe Dion, with two-thirds of the vote.

In Vegreville and Lakeland, Leon Benoit won elections in 1993, 1997 and 2000 as a Reform/Canadian Alliance member. His 2000 win was over Liberal Wayne Kowalski, by 20,298 votes.

• 2004, 2006 - CON