Add StudioX as a preferred source on GoogleAlberta’s chief electoral officer says the province’s next general election should either be held under the current electoral boundaries or be postponed, according to Global News Calgary.
Gordon McClure made the recommendation in a letter to legislature Speaker Ric McIver. The letter was shared by the Opposition NDP. It is also addressed to Alberta MLAs and is dated Friday.
Elections Alberta says it needs time
McClure wrote that either option would give Elections Alberta enough time to run the vote with integrity and safeguards in place. The election is currently scheduled for Oct. 18, 2027.
He urged MLAs to consider how much time implementation requires as debate over boundaries continues. He called for a timely, definitive resolution and a contingency plan in case more time is needed.
McClure said a typical provincial vote requires up to 18 months of preparation. He said the agency has been stretched thin in recent months, partly because of the referendum on separation earlier this month.
He also said there is already friction over the new boundaries proposed in a forthcoming report, and that those disagreements could cause delays. The report has been put before an all-party legislative committee and is set to be tabled in the legislature on Monday.
NDP alleges gerrymandering
The report was already the subject of heated debate in the legislature this past week. NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi, after being briefed on it, said it gerrymanders ridings in two southern Alberta cities, Lethbridge and Calgary.
Gerrymandering is a tactic in which voting districts are designed to concentrate or fragment voters to benefit a particular party, rather than to reflect geography or population patterns.
Two members of the committee behind the report said the suggested ridings draw a line between rural and urban voters. Recent provincial elections have seen the UCP dominate rural areas and smaller cities, while the NDP has controlled Edmonton. The two parties have battled for advantage in Calgary.
Nenshi said that if the boundaries are redrawn after passing a legislature vote, NDP support would be diluted in favour of the UCP. He said his party would challenge the ridings in court on constitutional grounds. The Constitution protects voters’ rights to effective representation.
He also said the report suggests the panel drafting the new boundaries appeared to receive instructions from the government and was not independent.
Premier rejects the claims
Premier Danielle Smith accused Nenshi of questioning the integrity of judges, including Brian O’Ferrall, a former judge who chairs the panel responsible for the redraw. Smith also denied the NDP’s accusations that her government is pulling strings to manipulate the vote in her favour. She told Nenshi to stop complaining and start campaigning.
The call for a new report and panel came after a previous bipartisan boundary commission split in its recommendations following months of public consultations.
The justice minister’s office said Saturday that it is reviewing McClure’s letter and will have more to say once the review is complete.
In a statement Friday, Nenshi said Elections Alberta is saying it does not have enough time to implement what he called the UCP’s “rigged map”. He noted the fixed election date was already extended by Smith. In 2024, her government moved the fixed election date from May to October, in order to avoid clashing with major natural disasters such as wildfires or floods.
Source: Global News Calgary
Harnaik Singh Rathor is the Founder, Publisher, and Editor-in-Chief of StudioX News Canada, Canada's multilingual digital news network serving multilingual diaspora communities across Canada. With a background in media production, public relations, and multicultural communications, he founded StudioX Film and TV Corporation to bridge the gap between mainstream Canadian media and the country's diverse immigrant communities. He is a member of the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ), RTDNA Canada, CPRS Vancouver, NEPMCC, and the Canadian Freelance Union (Unifor). Based in Surrey, British Columbia. | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harnaiksinghrathor/ | Muck Rack: https://muckrack.com/harnaiksinghrathor | Email: editor@studioxnews.ca
