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There’s good reason for Edmonton to question the appointment of Shaye Anderson as the province’s minister of Municipal Affairs.

In the past, Anderson has made it clear he opposes Edmonton’s annexation bid in Leduc County.

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Anderson’s appointment comes as Edmonton enters into a key phase of the city’s crucial, ongoing negotiations with Leduc County over the annexing of land to the south and control of the Edmonton International Airport, and just as Edmonton enters into new negotiations with the town of Beaumont over disputed land.

Beaumont is Anderson’s home and constituency.

In any new annexation deal, Edmonton hopes to get the necessary land to build high-density suburbs and lucrative industrial parks to the south and to ensure it’s not fenced in by an ocean of low-density acreages.

It’s one of Mayor Don Iveson’s make-or-break files. So far the results have been mixed. On the plus side, instead of trying to battle it out and let the provincial government pick a winner, Iveson and Leduc County Mayor John Whaley have been trying to work out a collaborative deal. The idea is for both sides to win, with choice farmland protected and the county keeping its Nisku industrial base, but Edmonton getting room to grow.