Banff-Kananaskis

{{Short description|Provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada}}

{{Infobox Canada electoral district

| name =Banff-Kananaskis

| province =Alberta

| image =Banff-Kananaskis 2017.png

| caption =Banff-Kananaskis within Alberta (2017 boundaries).

| prov-rep = Sarah Elmeligi

| prov-rep-link =

| prov-rep-party = NDP

| prov-rep-party-link =

| prov-status =active

| prov-created =2017

| prov-abolished =

| prov-election-first =2019

| prov-election-last =2023

| demo-census-date = 2016

| demo-pop =46824

| demo-pop-ref =Statistics Canada: 2016

| demo-area =15939

| demo-cd =6, 15

| demo-csd =Banff, MD of Bighorn, Canmore, MD of Foothills, ID #9, Kananaskis ID, Rocky View, Stoney, Tsuu T'ina

}}

Banff-Kananaskis is a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada. The district is one of 87 districts mandated to return a single member (MLA) to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting. It was contested for the first time in the 2019 Alberta election.

Geography

The district is located in Alberta's Rocky Mountains and the adjacent foothills west of Calgary. Its largest communities are Banff and Canmore, and it contains the entirety of Banff National Park and Kananaskis Country, for which it is named. Stretching east to Calgary's border, some farming communities are also included, as well as the Treaty 7 communities of the Tsuu T'ina Nation and the Îyârhe Nakoda's Stoney Reserves.

History

class="wikitable" align=right !colspan=5\|Members for Banff-Kananaskis
Assembly !Years !colspan="2"\|Member !Party
align="center" colspan=5\|See Banff-Cochrane 1940–2019
30th \|2019–2023 \|{{Canadian party colour\|AB\|UCP\|background}}\| \|Miranda Rosin \|UCP
31st \|2023–present \| {{Canadian party colour\|AB\|NDP\|background}} \| \|Sarah Elmeligi \|NDP

class="wikitable" align=right

!colspan=5|Members for Banff-Kananaskis

Assembly

!Years

!colspan="2"|Member

!Party

align="center" colspan=5|See Banff-Cochrane 1940–2019

30th

|2019–2023

|{{Canadian party colour|AB|UCP|background}}|

|Miranda Rosin

|UCP

31st

|2023–present

| {{Canadian party colour|AB|NDP|background}} |

|Sarah Elmeligi

|NDP

The district was created in 2017 when the Electoral Boundaries Commission recommended moving the city of Cochrane to the new riding of Airdrie-Cochrane, requiring a new name for Banff-Cochrane. The district gained small areas to the south and west from Airdrie, Chestermere-Rocky View and Livingstone-Macleod, including the entirety of Kananaskis Country. The Commission also decided to join the Stoney Reserves and Tsuu T'ina Reserve into the same district for representation purposes.{{cite report |title=Proposed Electoral Division Areas, Boundaries, and Names for Alberta. Final Report to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta |url=https://www.elections.ab.ca/wp-content/uploads/abebc_2017_rpt_final.pdf |date=October 2017 |isbn=978-1-988620-04-6 |access-date=May 4, 2021 |author=Alberta. Electoral Boundaries Commission |publisher=Legislative Assembly of Alberta |archive-date=May 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210504135425/https://www.elections.ab.ca/wp-content/uploads/abebc_2017_rpt_final.pdf |url-status=live |page=34}} In 2017, the Banff-Kananaskis electoral district had a population of 46,824, which was slightly above the provincial average of 46,803 for a provincial electoral district.

In the 2019 Alberta general election, United Conservative Party candidate Miranda Rosin was elected with 51 per cent of the vote, defeating New Democratic Party incumbent candidate Cam Westhead with 42 per cent of the vote, and four other candidates.{{cite report |author1=Alberta. Chief Electoral Officer |title=2019 General Election. A Report of the Chief Electoral Officer. Volume II |date=2019 |publisher=Elections Alberta |location=Edmonton, Alta. |isbn=978-1-988620-12-1 |url=https://www.elections.ab.ca/wp-content/uploads/Volume-2-2019-Provincial-General-Election-Report.pdf |access-date=April 7, 2021 |volume=2 |pages=204–210}}

In the 2023 Alberta general election, Miranda Rosin was unseated by the NDP candidate Sarah Elmeligi, the NDP's only win in rural Alberta.{{Cite web |title=Alberta election 2023 results: Banff-Kananaskis {{!}} Globalnews.ca |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/9625483/alberta-election-2023-results-banff-kananaskis/ |access-date=2023-05-30 |website=Global News |language=en-US}}