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.
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[4]
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.
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.
