The riding was created in 1993 when from the Smoky River electoral district was expanded into the old Whitecourt electoral district. The district includes the north portion of the city of Grande Prairie as well as the towns of Fox Creek, Sexsmith and Valleyview.
History
The electoral district was created in the 1993 boundary redistribution from the electoral district of Smoky River and Whitecourt. It remained mostly unchanged in the 1997 and 2003 electoral boundary re-distributions. The Boundaries Commission proposed to abolish the district to create a completely urban Grande Prairie district but it changed its decision under public pressure.[1] The 2010 re-distribution made minor changes to the border with Grande Prairie-Wapiti in the city of Grande Prairie but stayed the same in the rural areas.[2]
Starting at the intersection of the east boundary of Rge. 7 W6 and the north boundary of Sec. 7 in Twp. 75, Rge. 6 W6; then 1. east along the north boundary of Secs. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 in Twp. 75, Rges. 6 and 5 W6 to the east boundary of Rge. 5 W6; 2. south along the east boundary of Rge. 5 to the north boundary of Twp. 74; 3. east along the north boundary of Twp. 74 to the east boundary of Sec. 3 in Twp. 75, Rge. 3 W6; 4. north along the east boundary of Secs. 3, 10, 15, 22 and 27 of the Twp. to the north boundary of the south half of Sec. 26 in the Twp.; 5. east along the north boundary of the south half of Secs. 26 and 25 in the Twp. to the east boundary of Rge. 3 W6; 6. north along the east boundary to the north boundary of Sec. 30 in Twp. 75, Rge. 2 W6; 7. east along the north boundary to the east boundary of the west half of Sec. 31 in the Twp.; 8. north along the east boundary to the north boundary of the south half of Sec. 31; 9. east along the north boundary of the south half of Secs. 31 and 32 in the Twp. to the east boundary of the west half of Sec. 32; 10. north along the east boundary of the west half of Sec. 32 in the Twp. and Sec. 5 in Twp. 76, Rge. 2 W6 to the north boundary of the south half of Sec. 5; 11. east along the north boundary to the east boundary of Sec. 5 in the Twp.; 12. north along the east boundary to the north boundary of Sec. 4 in the Twp.; 13. east along the north boundary of Secs. 4 and 3 in the Twp. to the east boundary of Sec. 3 in the Twp.; 14. south along the east boundary to the north boundary of Twp. 75; 15. east along the north boundary to the right bank of the Smoky River; 16. downstream along the right bank of the Smoky River to the right bank of the Little Smoky River; 17. upstream along the right bank of the Little Smoky River to the east boundary of Rge. 24 W5; 18. south along the east boundary to the north boundary of Twp. 73; 19. east along the north boundary to the east boundary of Rge. 20 W5; 20. south along the east boundary to the north boundary of Twp. 70; 21. east along the north boundary of Twp. 70 to the east boundary of Rge. 19 W5; 22. south along Rge. 19 to the north boundary of Twp. 67; 23. east along the north boundary to the east boundary of Rge. 14 W5; 24. south along the east boundary to the north boundary of Twp. 62; 25. west along the north boundary of Twp. 62 to the east boundary of Rge. 15 W5; 26. south along the east boundary to the north boundary of Twp. 61; 27. west along the north boundary of Twp. 61 to the east boundary of Rge. 16 W5; 28. south along the east boundary to the right bank of the Athabasca River; 29. upstream along the right bank of the Athabasca River to the right bank of the Berland River; 30. upstream along the right bank of the Berland River to the east boundary of Rge. 25 W5; 31. north along the east boundary to the north boundary of Twp. 62; 32. west along the north boundary to its most westerly intersection with the left bank of the Smoky River; 33. downstream along the left bank to the right bank of the Wapiti River; 34. upstream along the right bank to the east boundary of Sec. 19 in Twp. 70, Rge. 5 W6; 35. north along the east boundary of Secs. 19, 30 and 31 in the Twp. to the north boundary of Twp. 70; 36. west along the north boundary to the centre line of the Alberta RailNet Inc.; 37. in a generally northerly direction along the centre line of the Alberta RailNet Inc. to the south Grande Prairie city boundary; 38. east and north along the city boundary to the centre line of 100 Avenue (Richmond Avenue); 39. west along the centre line of 100 Avenue to the west Grande Prairie city boundary; 40. in a generally northerly and easterly direction along the city boundary to the intersection with the right bank of the Bear River; 41. upstream along the right bank of the Bear River to the intersection with the right bank of the Grande Prairie Creek; 42. upstream along the right bank of the Grande Prairie Creek to the north boundary of Twp. 72; 43. west along the north boundary to the east boundary of Rge. 7; 44. north along the east boundary of Rge. 7 to the starting point.
The electoral district was created in the 1993 boundary redistribution primarily from the old Smoky River and Whitecourt riding's. The first election held that year saw Progressive Conservative Smoky River incumbent Walter Paszkowski win a comfortable majority to pick up the seat for his party. He ran for a second term winning a larger majority in the 1997 election. He retired from the legislature at dissolution in 2001.
The former representative was Progressive Conservative Mel Knight who won his first election in 2001 with a massive majority taking 67% of the popular vote. He was re-elected to his second term in the 2004 election with a very large, but reduced majority.
Premier Ed Stelmach appointed Mel Knight as Minister of Energy in 2006.[5] He won a slightly higher majority running for a third term in the 2008 general election. Knight was shuffled out of the Energy portfolio in 2010 and then served as the Minister of Sustainable Resource Development.
Upon his retirement, Everett McDonald kept the seat for the PCs at a reduced vote share in the 2012 election. In 2015, however, third-time candidate Todd Loewen finally captured the seat for Wildrose. He subsequently crossed the floor to the United Conservative Party when the two parties merged.
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 have 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 that reside in another electoral district had the option to vote for candidates outside of the electoral district then where they were physically located.
