Cochrane town council is concerned the provincial electoral boundaries proposed in the interim report of the Alberta Electoral Boundaries Commission (AEBC) will weakened their clout in the legislature and have found an ally in the City of Airdrie.

Council has thrown its support behind the City of Airdrie's call for an west-east Airdrie split that will take Cochrane out of that picture and make it a major player in a proposed Cochrane-Rocky View West riding.

Airdrie's proposal calls for Cochrane to be the largest centre in a riding that would also include portions of Rocky View County's divisions 6 to 9 that lie north and east of Cochrane.

In her report to council, Stacey Loe, senior manager of Legislative and Government Services, explained Airdrie finds their east-west alternative more palatable to what is currently proposed and believed projected population growths would complement the proposal. If the Cochrane-Rocky View West constituency was adopted by the province, its geographical size would shrink as populations grow, particularly in the Cochrane and Bearspaw areas.

The proposed riding would have an initial population of 41,622, based upon the 2017 census numbers. It's smaller than the proposed Airdrie-Cochrane riding, estimated to have a population of 49,643. In the AEBC interim report.

What is clear is any proposal splits Airdie and will be served by two MLAs after the next provincial election. Also, Cochrane's current MLA, Cam Westhead, of Bragg Creek, would be out of the picture for Cochrane in any of the proposals.

After considering input, the AEBC is scheduled to present its final report to the legislature this fall.