MD OF BIGHORN – As the population of the MD of Bighorn continues to increase, rising by 20.7 per cent between 2016 and 2021, the municipality is moving forward with its boundary review.
And while the potential for a redrawing of the ward maps could take place in the coming years, Bighorn’s governance and priorities committee heard at its Jan. 27 meeting that the review was delayed due to other circumstances.
“We had to retender it because the first tender went out in October just before we let go our CAO,” Reeve Lisa Rosvold said. “We had to retender it because it was something that got dropped.”
The MD of Bighorn approved the proposal submitted by ISL Engineering for the boundary review. The company has previously conducted boundary reviews for Rocky View County and Strathcona County.
The cost for the ward review in the 2023 budget will be $30,000.
The boundary review will adjust the wards to resolve inequalities in population demographics of the six sub-areas that include five hamlets and the rural balance of the MD.
“That was not a council decision. It was administration letting us know where we are at with that,” Rosvold said. “Looking back at our strategic plan and budget over the last few years, we had this sitting in the background. It was finally approved in the 2022 budget to proceed and we are just getting it going now.”
Since the MD of Bighorn was created in 1988, there have been several changes to the municipality through annexations, with the last major annexation occurring in 1993. While the municipal boundaries have changed for the MD, there have been no changes to the number of seats on council or the number of wards since 1989.
A final report will be prepared by ISL Engineering that outlines the methodology used in the review and recommendations for council to consider.
It is expected that the boundary review report will be presented in May of this year.
Requests for a boundary review have been coming most prominently from ward two, where Harvie Heights and Dead Man’s Flats are located. The two hamlets have been steadily growing, leading to some asking for more equality when it comes to municipal representation.
In the last federal census, the roughly 2,700 square kilometres of Bighorn grew from 1,324 to 1,598 residents.
Ward 1 encompasses Exshaw, Kananaskis and Seebe and has two councillors, while Ward 2 is Dead Man’s Flats, Lac Des Arcs and Harvie Heights and is represented by one councillor. Ward 3 is split in half on either side of the Trans-Canada Highway, with Ward 4 being the largest and Benchlands as the main population centre.
“I have been hearing from residents from those communities over the last number of years that the population distribution is not equal among the wards,” Rosvold said. “They had been wondering if a ward boundary was something that would be done.”
