Lloydminster
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the electoral districts named for this city, see Lloydminster (electoral district) and Lloydminster (Alberta electoral district).
| City of Lloydminster | |
| Image:Llodminster-COA.png | |
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| Area | 41.53 km² |
| Population | 23,632 (2005) |
| Pop'n density | 561.1 |
| Location | |
| Altitude | 669 metres |
| Incorporation | 1958 |
| Province | Alberta, Saskatchewan |
| Census Division | 10 (AB), 17 (SK) |
| Members of Parliament | Leon Benoit (AB, Cons.), Gerry Ritz (SK, Cons.) |
| Members of the Legislative Assembly | Lloyd Snelgrove (AB, P.C), Milt Wakefield (SK, S.P.) |
| Mayor | Ken Baker |
| City Manager | Roger Brekko |
| Governing Body | Lloydminster City Council |
| Time zone | MST: UTC-7 |
| Postal code | T9V, S9V |
| Area Code | +1-780, +1-306 |
| Official website: City of Lloydminster | |
Lloydminster is a Canadian city which has the unusual geographic distinction of straddling a provincial border. Unlike most such cases, Lloydminster is not a pair of twin cities on opposite sides of a border which merely share the same name, but is actually incorporated as a single city with a single municipal administration.
The provincial border runs north to south, falling directly on 50th Avenue (Meridian Avenue) in the centre of Lloydminster. Addresses east of 50th Avenue are considered to be in Lloydminster, Saskatchewan and addresses west of 50th Avenue are considered to be in Lloydminster, Alberta.
According to a 2005 municipal census, the population is estimated to be 23,632, of which 15,487 (65.5%) live in Alberta and 8,148 (34.5%) live in Saskatchewan. According to the 2001 federal census, the total population of the city was 20,988, of which 13,148 (62.6%) resided in Alberta while 7,840 (37.4%) lived in Saskatchewan. From 1996 to 2001, the population rose 16.2% on the Alberta side while the Saskatchewan side rose by 2.7%.
The Alberta and Saskatchewan sides of the city each rank 11th in municipal population for their respective provinces. If the city were entirely in one province or the other, Lloydminster's population would rank ninth in Alberta and fifth in Saskatchewan.
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[edit] History
Intended to be an exclusively British Utopian settlement centred around the idea of sobriety, the town was founded in 1903 by the Barr Colonists, who came directly from the British Isles. At a time when the area was still part of the Northwest Territories, the town was located astride the Fourth Meridian of the Dominion Land Survey. This meridian was intended to coincide with 110° west longitude although the imperfect surveying methods of the time led to the meridian being placed a few hundred meters west of this longitude.
The town was named for Anglican Bishop George Exton Lloyd, a strong opponent of non-British immigration to Canada. During a nearly disastrous immigration journey, which was badly planned and conducted<ref>Shara.Buchan</ref>, he distinguished himself with the colonists and replaced the Barr Colony's leader and namesake Isaac Montgomery Barr during the colonists' journey to the eventual townsite.
When the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan were created in 1905, the Fourth Meridian was selected as the border, bisecting the town. For the next quarter century, Lloydminster remained two separate towns with two separate municipal administrations, but in 1930 the provincial governments agreed to amalgamate the towns into a single town under shared jurisdiction. The provinces, again jointly, reincorporated Lloydminster as a city in 1958.
Commemorating Lloydminster's unique bi-provincial status, a monument consisting of four 100-foot survey markers was erected in 1994 near the city's downtown core.
Although the majority of Lloydminster's population once lived in Saskatchewan, that ratio has long since been reversed. With the bulk of the city's recent growth taking place on the Alberta side of the border, it has become known to most Canadians as Lloydminster, Alberta. In 2000, the city hall and municipal offices were re-located from Saskatchewan to Alberta.
[edit] Economy and taxation
The local economy is driven primarily by the booming petroleum industry. Many new projects including an expansion to the Husky Upgrader are in place or planned for the near future. Agriculture remains an important economic activity, although many farmers in the area have been sustained financially by lease payments resulting from oil wells drilled on their land.
Lloydminster's bi-provincial status has resulted in special provisions regarding provincial taxation within the city limits. Perhaps most significant is that the Saskatchewan side is exempt from that province's sales tax. This allows businesses in that province to compete on a more equal footing with businesses in Alberta, which has no PST.
These exemptions do not apply to provincial income tax, which is based entirely on the taxpayer's province of residence. The fact that Alberta's income tax rates are substantially lower than those in Saskatchewan (even after Alberta's health care premiums are taken into account) is usually cited as a key reason for the city's recent growth being almost entirely on the Alberta side (possibly due to the "Alberta Advantage"). However, recent growth in Saskatchewan, although not yet on pace with that in Alberta, has been driven by a need for affordable housing to a point where Lloydminster has become Saskatchewan's fastest-growing city as of 2006.
[edit] Politics
Residents on the Alberta side are served by the electoral district of Vegreville—Wainwright in the federal House of Commons, and Vermilion-Lloydminster in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Residents in Saskatchewan are served by Battlefords—Lloydminster federally, and Lloydminster in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan.
[edit] Education
Lloydminster schools all use Saskatchewan's curriculum even though elementary and secondary schools are on both sides of the border. Lloydminster provides post-secondary education through Lakeland College offering one and two year certificate and diploma programs. Programs offered range from business administration and computer sciences to heavy oil training. Lakeland also offers a university transfer program for students looking to prepare for university.
[edit] Media
[edit] Radio
[edit] Television
[edit] Miscellaneous
There are substantial demographic differences between the populations on each side of the border, with the population on the Saskatchewan side being substantially younger. This is likely due to the fact that for most young adults and especially for males under 25 years of age, the savings in provincial income tax would be negated by the significantly higher automobile insurance premiums demanded by Alberta's private insurance providers. (SGI does not charge higher premiums on account of a driver's age.)
Filing a tax return as an Alberta resident while holding a driver's licence, insurance and/or health card issued in Saskatchewan is illegal, but allegedly practiced by a significant number of residents. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Canada Revenue Agency are believed to have stepped up enforcement in response to complaints from the Government of Saskatchewan.
Lloydminster's unique situation is reflected in other legal matters, including its time zone. Alberta has a law requiring the use of daylight saving time throughout the province; Saskatchewan has a law prohibiting the same. However, Lloydminster's charter allows it to use daylight saving time on both sides of the provincial border; this places the city in the Mountain Standard Time Zone and synchronizes clocks with those of Alberta. However, Lloydminster was not exempted from a strict new anti-smoking law passed by Saskatchewan's legislature. A bylaw extending the smoking ban citywide was passed in a referendum in October 2006 and will take effect on January 1, 2007. Lloydminster follows the Saskatchewan schedule when voting in municipal elections.
Due to Lloydminster's beginnings as an anti-alcohol Utopian society, alcohol was not available in Lloydminster for the first few years after its founding. The early Utopianists believed that drink was the single most destructive factor in society, leading to such things as abuse of children and women. A bylaw prohibiting nude entertainment remains on the books.
Lloydminster is not the only city that straddles a Canadian provincial border. The city of Flin Flon, Manitoba has a small section that is actually located within Saskatchewan. In the National Capital Region, Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec form a single metropolitan area, but they do not form a biprovincial city because there are separate municipalities in each province.
See also: Twin cities
[edit] External links
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- WikiSatellite view at WikiMapia
- Street map from Mapquest
- Topographic map from Topozone
- Aerial photograph from Terraserver
- City of Lloydminster homepage
- Lloydminster at The Canadian Encyclopedia
- History of Lloydminster by Shara Buchan
[edit] Notes
<references/>
| Image:Flag of Saskatchewan.svg | Saskatchewan |
|---|---|
| Census Divisions: | 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 |
| SARM Divisions: | 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 |
| Cities: | Estevan - Flin Flon (part) - Humboldt - Lloydminster (part) - Melfort - Melville - Moose Jaw - North Battleford - Prince Albert - Regina - Saskatoon - Swift Current - Weyburn - Yorkton |
| See also: | List of rural municipalities in Saskatchewan, SARM |
| Census divisions | 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 |
|---|---|
| Cities | Airdrie - Brooks - Calgary - Camrose - Cold Lake - Edmonton - Fort Saskatchewan - Grande Prairie - Leduc - Lethbridge - Lloydminster - Medicine Hat - Red Deer - Spruce Grove - St. Albert - Wetaskiwin |
| Communities | Counties and Municipal Districts of Alberta - Towns of Alberta - Villages of Alberta - Hamlets of Alberta - Indian Reserves in Alberta - Métis in Alberta |
