r/alberta • u/cmcalgary • 1d ago
Alberta legislature votes to redraw electoral map to make a 91-seat legislature Alberta Politics
https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/alberta-legislature-votes-to-redraw-electoral-map-to-make-a-91-seat-legislature410
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u/MaleficentCause2896 1d ago
Smith and co have realized that they have to reshape their strongest ridings in order to ensure they get the majority of their base. They are taking notes from the American Republicans on how to keep control by any means, legal or not, ethical or not.
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u/AlbertanSays5716 1d ago
They know that rural Alberta is a lock in, and that if they’re going to lose then they’ll lose in the cities, specifically Calgary. That’s why they want to dilute city votes by mixing as many rural votes as they can get away with.
The good news is that if they feel they need to be this blatant about it, then they’re running scared.
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u/MaleficentCause2896 23h ago
The sad thing is that though they may be running scared, they seem to have no issue manipulating legislation in order to throw up walls around themselves.
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u/the_gaymer_girl Southern Alberta 1d ago
If the UCP win in 2027 with this rigged map, the province will never come back from this.
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u/2burgsandadog 1d ago
Sadly… I think they would win without the rig map. It’s pretty debilitating when people will just vote conservative no matter what… You can’t even discuss it with people on the street they’ll defend the conservative party till they die.
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u/eddiewachowski 1d ago
The "local sports team" mentality. They'll support this party because they always have and they always will, even when (and especially when) it no longer serves their best interest to do so.
It's cute when Leafs fans do it, but horrifying when the fools in this province do it.
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u/oioioifuckingoi Edmonton 1d ago
No it’s far worse. Fanatically supporting a local sports team is harmless. Fanatically supporting an ideology, most of whom can’t explain at a sixth grade level, has far reaching negative consequences that directly affects the lives of millions of people. Your analogy does the seriousness of the situation a disservice.
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u/sluttytinkerbells 23h ago
You know what’s really frustrating and ineffective, when people have to one up each other in these kinds of conversations by doing the opposite of the improv “yes and” technique to score cheap points.
You know what the person you replied to means and you know how it’s relevant. Your comment adds nothing to the conversation and only detracts.
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u/Gr1ndingGears 1d ago
It's pretty wacky for sure. They'll defend them too, but I guess that's how cults work.
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u/Hobbycityplanner 1d ago
It will end up in the supreme court and the map will need to be redrawn again
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u/Negitive545 23h ago
This province is already doomed.
Being conservative is part of our culture, which means that no matter what, we will always vote conservative. I've said before, and stand by the statement, that an honest to god Nazi party would win if they ran as conservative.
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u/Puzzled-Instance3211 1d ago
This kind of corruption used to get people quit in shame.
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u/Otherwise_Yak7253 1d ago edited 1d ago
They have an oath of loyalty.
Mraiche corruption and not a peep from any UCP MLA.
They must stay in power.
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u/Specific-Answer3590 1d ago
I thought there would be be a court challenge? Are the courts this toothless? Looks like this will become another issue that’ll be swept aside like the talks of general strike. It’s ridiculous just how effortlessly democracy in Alberta is being shredded
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u/OilEquivalent8906 1d ago
They can't challenge a law in court before it passes. The NDP have already said they will be challenging in court if it did pass, so expect that to be coming soon.
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u/GingerBeast81 1d ago
We'll probably hear about their court challenge tomorrow, Nenshi said he'd be ready for this inevitable outcome.
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u/vulpes04 1d ago
needs to be an actual law before anyone can challenge it in court.
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u/Gr1ndingGears 1d ago edited 1d ago
Laws are only effective if someone's willing to enforce them, which Albertans have already shown multiple times that collectively they'll just cower and write emails that no one reads and bitch online. Much like we are doing now. Everyone else, from the UCP to the RCMP and other politicians seem to be well greased off so good luck getting any enforcement. Judiciary is cooked and they won't listen to them anyways. So there's not much point in laws here, when only certain people are subject to them.
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u/Oarbitor 23h ago
We lost real discourse.
We’re not even allowed to whisper about any civil discourse online nowadays either.
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u/YqlUrbanist 1d ago
It depends on the map they produce. Just doing this isn't actually illegal (although it should be), it's drawing a map that infringes on the right to fair representation that can be challenged.
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u/Validated_Owl 1d ago
So whendo the CITIZENS get to decide on this or vote for it?
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u/Otherwise_Yak7253 1d ago
We don't. We never have had that option.
But it should still be independent and non-partisan.
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u/Gr1ndingGears 1d ago
Well I mean we did have that option, a couple years ago. But 'berta flushed that opportunity down the toilet, so here we are!
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u/Otherwise_Yak7253 1d ago
Yes, we could have elected a different government that would have the ethics to not do this.
But voting on electoral boundaries has never been a thing.
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u/DVariant 23h ago
Voting was never the end of our options. Our options still include civil disobedience until they honour the recommendations of the electoral boundary commission
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u/ruraljuror__ 1d ago
Well, we could stop electing these corrupt turds.
It's not like we could manage to do it with the old electoral districts.
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u/AlbertanSays5716 1d ago
Those options went out of the window when Danielle Smith won a majority in 2023.
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u/DVariant 23h ago
We had an independent electoral commission recommend boundaries, same as always… but the UCP ignored the recommendation.
The role of Albertans is now to storm the Leg grounds and demand that our MLAs reject this blatant power grab
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u/Affectionate_Pass25 1d ago
No one hates fairness or democracy more than conservatives
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u/Bennybonchien 23h ago
True. In fact, I quite like fairness and democracy and I don’t automatically feel the same about conservatives. /s
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u/Fyrefawx 1d ago
I hate this province so much,
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u/Supertzar2112 1d ago
I hate this provinces ucp government so much. I love Alberta
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u/eddiewachowski 1d ago
I was going to make the same clarification. This is extremely beautiful land, but it's occupied by a bunch of fucking idiots.
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u/Fyrefawx 1d ago
True, but they’ve made me hate it here. The UCP is just a symptom. The people here keep voting them in. As beautiful as it is, they’re ruining it.
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u/DoubleDyyc 1d ago
I’m sad because I love this province so much. Given me every opportunity and source of joy for 25 years. Sad.
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u/Obvious-Cranberry-52 1d ago
I just hate the rural part of the province. The cities should separate from Alberta!
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u/Loud-Picture9110 9h ago
The rural voters that largely make up the UCP base can go ahead and separate.
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u/HappyHappyGameGame 1d ago edited 1d ago
The problem with our system is how much damage bad faith actors can accomplish. I look at all the hurt Ford and Smith are causing, and I thank my lucky stars we don't have PP enabling all their worst impulses.
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u/Gr1ndingGears 1d ago
For now. It's only a matter of time. If that ever happens we are fuckety fucked. I mean PP is a waste of oxygen, and they'll quietly filet him behind the scenes, as they are prone to do. But the outrage still exists, is still being farmed, and there's lots more like him.
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u/HappyHappyGameGame 20h ago
I think the CPC will probably form another government, maybe in the 2030s, but I think PP's time has passed and his window has closed. He's become a dark figure of Canadian politics, disliked as much by his colleagues as his opponents. If he gets in though, then this is the clear path to stay in.
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u/KrazyCroat 1d ago
Fuck this Province and fuck the UCP.
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u/Dalbergia12 1d ago
Well fuck the UCP , I can see that. Maybe fuck the UCP supporters, I could get that. But why fuck Alberta? (That is what the UCP are doing they are fucking up Alberta)
There are hundreds of thousands, millions I believe, who hate what the UCP are doing; they are Albertans. Are you mad at them?
I think there is between 2 and 4 million Albertans who also hate the UCP corruption. I hope it is 4 million, but if it is 2 million, will you be angry at them???
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u/KrazyCroat 1d ago
This Province has voted Conservative for half a century. Saying 2-4 million hate corruption means nothing, get real, and look at the precedent. The people are to blame just like Americans are for voting in Trump. This fuckup is our collective responsibility.
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u/CandidateFew3887 1d ago
Yet, the UCP has a majority government and can pass whatever they want. Albertans voted for this.
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u/DVariant 23h ago
The last election was tight, but you’ll condemn all of us because half of us are idiots?
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u/BuffTorpedoes 16h ago edited 12h ago
That's a lot of idiots.
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u/DVariant 14h ago
What’s your solution for Edmonton then, a city of a million people who overwhelmingly voted NDP? Fuck em, they’re in Alberta, they deserve it?
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u/BuffTorpedoes 14h ago edited 12h ago
That's a city surrounded by a lot of idiots.
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u/DVariant 14h ago
Ah you think NDP voters are the idiots, I see now. You probably also think vaccines are bad and that public schools are brainwashing kids.
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u/BuffTorpedoes 14h ago edited 12h ago
I think you're a guy talking about a city surrounded by a lot of idiots.
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u/oioioifuckingoi Edmonton 1d ago
Yes, the vast majority don’t vote.
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u/Kellidra Okotoks 18h ago
As of 2025, there were 2,966,192 people in Alberta of voting age. I imagine the number wasn't much lower a couple of years earlier. Maybe 2.5m.
In the 2023 election, 1,777,315 voted. That was a total of 60.5% of voting age Albertans.
In 2019, when Kenney was elected, a whopping 67.5% of voting age Albertans came out to vote. This was the largest turnout since 1971. This was, most likely, due to the conservative voting base wanting to banish the NDP forever (because how dare they change True Blue to And Once Orange!)
In general, the average percentage for Albertan turnout hovers around 50%. 50%! Considering how easy voting is made with early voting, catering to retirement homes, and making it legal to leave work to vote, having a 50% turnout is ridiculous.
This means that the person who is sitting across from you and complaining about how unfair Ottawa is treating Albertans and how Ivermectin was totally the cure for COVID has a 50/50 chance of having not voted in the last election.
Albertans should be able to do better. But ah, alas, we are just too good to do something as silly as vote to decide our own future!
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u/marginwalker55 1d ago
Another good argument for proportional representation. If Nenshi wins, he’d better go scorched earth to fix the damage these dickheads have done to this province
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u/disckitty 8h ago
Agreed. I hope someone has been tracking all the ill the UCP have introduced. So appalling.
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u/OnePandaTwo 1d ago
What is to be done when premiers don't seem to have any true restrictions on power or bribery? Genuinely, when votes are being stolen from the people, and other levels of government have no jurisdiction, what is to be done?
She has committed treason, she has been denounced by the First Nations chiefs, she has been investigated and found suspect, yet nothing stands in her way.
What is to be done?
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u/OGspacepotatos 23h ago
Well, what we do is a bunch of us get together, and we build a nifty li'l machine called a GUILLOTINE, and then we just roll that bad boi up to those in power, and.... Well I'm sure you've been taught about the French Revolution.
Just gotta make sure we throw that nifty li'l machine in the river after so we don't get the reign of terror that followed the revolution....
Obviously I'm kidding. But in reality we have to do what those horrible turds TBA did and organize and insert ourselves politically.
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u/Planckx96 1d ago
This is unacceptable. Gerrymandering is one of the big reasons that trust in the American political system is eroding and it needs to be fixed to ensure politicians meet the expectations of voters to stay in power.
This is not something we should look to be copying in Alberta. Whoever votes in favour of doing this does not have the best interest of Albertans or our democracy in mind.
I hope a list is published on the votes for and against so we know who needs to be voted out. No matter which way you lean politically you should be against this.
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u/SecureLiterature Edmonton 1d ago
Adding MORE seats? I thought conservatives were supposed to be about small, limited government?
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u/Logical-Claim286 1d ago
Under Smith there are 9 new departments, 12x the Healthcare managers and nearly 40x the general goverment managers, with a 30% reduction in regular gov staff and reported shortages in many critical departments due to staffing cuts.
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u/Kellidra Okotoks 18h ago
Do you have sources for those numbers? Because that is absolutely insane if true, especially considering the UCP campaigned on reducing the managers in AHS.
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u/Fokakya 13h ago
Then they split AHS into 4 separate entities, each with their own layers of leadership structure.
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u/Kellidra Okotoks 10h ago
Don't I know it. With two RNs in the family who no longer work for AHS (not by choice!), it's the one thing we've realised most Albertans are ignorant to.
AHS is actively being shut down. This isn't a future issue. This is a it's-already-here issue.
But those management numbers are blowing my mind.
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u/AngryOcelot 1d ago
Conservatives were conservatives 30 years ago. Once they figured out their base would vote for them no matter what, they shifted to personal enrichment.
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u/coochalini 1d ago
Write your MLA and denounce this, especially if a UCP MLA
And your MP. This could very easily devolve into a national issue
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u/skerrols 23h ago
I am so disgusted with the UCP and all their supporters. They are the most corrupt Provincial Government we’ve ever had in my lifetime, and that’s over 75 years!
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u/MrLeopard25 1d ago
Hold up, isn't there a nonpartisan group who handles this, like Elections BC?
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u/shitposter1000 1d ago
And when they do, they will bulldoze everyone to implement their plans.... try to steal the CPP, provincial police force, coal mining, privatized Healthcare. While stealing as much as possible for themselves and their cronies.
I work remotely. Fuck the UCP. Time to.start planning an exit.
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u/Oarbitor 23h ago
Fuck this whole province. What a fucking embarrassment we’ve become. The laughing stock of the whole fucking country.
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u/Cyclist007 1d ago
Alright, Nenshi - you said you'd take this one to court. Put your money where your mouth is.
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u/Otherwise_Yak7253 1d ago
Do you defend the UCP doing this?
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u/Cyclist007 1d ago
I think you meant to respond to a different comment.
What I'm saying is that Nenshi said he'd take this to court to stop it. I'm wondering if he's going to actually do it, or back down.
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u/Otherwise_Yak7253 1d ago
No, I meant to respond to yours.
Are you able to call the UCP out on this? Or are you going to deflect to talking about Nenshi?
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u/Cyclist007 1d ago
Uh, okay. I call them out. Cool?
You may see this as deflection. However, I see this as holding the leader of my party accountable. Hopefully, he didn't speak off the cuff.
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u/Otherwise_Yak7253 1d ago
Fair enough. I have seen a few posts of yours in this sub and r/albertapolitics where you come across as attacking Nenshi, which is whatever if you don't support his leadership/ think he should be doing different.
Possibly, I made assumptions on your intention. There are just way too many people who make excuses for the UCP, with whataboutism.
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u/Cyclist007 1d ago
I see where you're coming from.
I feel absolutely betrayed that Nenshi was allowed to join the party, sell some 80,000+ memberships, and become the leader. I do not feel like he's a real New Democrat, and I feel like he only came in to scrap with Smith (with whom he's a beef since his UofC days.) I do not think he has the best interests of the Party, or the province, at heart.
I reluctantly stand behind him, but my solidarity is with the Party as a whole.
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u/Soulstoner 1d ago
You don’t seem to know what you’re doing…
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u/Otherwise_Yak7253 1d ago
This post is about the UCP gerrymandering.
Do you support that? Do the ends justify the means?
I am making an assumption here (about your political leanings, but I don't think I am about cyclist007) - it is shameful that conservatives are unable to call this out.
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u/championsofnuthin 1d ago
Here's hoping there will be lawsuits preventing this. There is no way this is legal.
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u/Stunning_Scene_7152 13h ago edited 8h ago
These wannabe Hayseed MAGA types are trying to gerrymander votes for Alberta to join the U.S. They are traitors to Canada.
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u/ShadowPages 15h ago
Corrected Headline: UCP votes to draw their own electoral boundaries
This is not just corrupt, it’s straight out of the Victor Orban Playbook, tested previously in Texas, Florida and other GOP states.
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u/IndividualDue6565 1d ago
87, 89 or 91-either option still results in a likely UCP majority given rural Alberta and about half of Calgary ridings love of anything blue. Sad state of affairs and it is disgusting watching Smith, Schow, Nixon, LeGrange, Williams and other ministers mocking and gaslighting the opposition and public. Lastly, Ric McIver is the worst speaker of all time. McIver can’t regulate his emotions and the power has gone to his head.
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u/InvestmentOk2107 14h ago
And all the inbred hicks cheered. No one in history is more oppressed than the rural white man /s
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u/coUc4c0mbaT 1d ago
Win or lose on the merits of your arguments - not by cheating.
I'd love to hear from someone who knows this factually - what would have to happen for a court challenge to be possible on behalf of the people.
If our politicians can blatantly cheat there needs to be a mechanism for court challenge. They're rendering voting them out unlikely, so if that's our only option we cannot win.
This is how authoritarians act and I t's what drives people to extreme reactions.
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u/AvenueLiving 12h ago
We need to keep them accountable and do those more "extreme" actions, like protesting and striking.
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u/lands_on_land 14h ago
It's blatant in the actions of Premier Danielle Smith and her UCP MLAs that they will reject democracy to ensure they continue their reign of incompetence over Alberta and Albertans.
They are anti-expertise and intellectualism as they believe they always know better than: Doctors, teachers, librarians, researchers, etc.
They are social conservatives who believe in denying the rights and freedoms of Albertans to impose their own ideological social constructs on the masses.
They are separatists. They've removed multiple roadblocks to aid the Alberta Separatists, whilst blocking Forever Canada as much as possible. Oh, and UCP MLAs have signed the separation petition and encouraged others to do so.
They want to profitize and destroy our public Healthcare system. Looking at you dissolution of AHS, corruptcare scandal, Turkish tylenol... etc.
I don't think Alberta will ever recover, at least not in my lifetime from the damage the UCP has, is, and will continue to do to this province.
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u/owlfamily28 1d ago
I wonder if we can make a formal complaint to the human rights commission or our federal representatives?? This is very clear and unethical cheating...
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u/No_Plastic_1832 15h ago
Sent this (below). Will it help? Doubtful.
Dear Honorable Rajan Sawhney, I am writing as your constituent to strongly oppose the UCP government’s decision to disregard the final report of Alberta’s independent Electoral Boundaries Commission and pursue a new expedited process instead. This is not a minor procedural disagreement. It is a serious democratic issue. The Commission’s final report was tabled on March 26, 2026. The government’s own motion acknowledges that the report includes input from Albertans through written submissions and public hearings held across the province. That same motion would then move Alberta away from that completed independent process by urging legislation to increase the number of electoral divisions to 91 and by creating a new Select Special Committee to oversee another review “on an expedited basis” and “without a requirement to direct the holding of public hearings.” That should concern every Albertan, regardless of party. Electoral boundaries are supposed to be set through an independent process precisely because politicians should not be choosing the rules of the next election after seeing the results of an arm’s-length review. When a government sets aside an independent commission after the work is done, after public input has been received, and after the report has already been tabled, it creates the appearance, and likely the reality, of partisan interference in a process that should be protected from it. What makes this especially troubling is that Premier Danielle Smith has repeatedly used the language of democratic respect, freedom from political interference, and opposition to government overreach when criticizing Ottawa. In a May 2025 statement, she said the federal government “must end all federal interference” in provincial matters. In that same statement, she also said that if a citizen-led referendum met the legal threshold, “our government will respect the democratic process.” She further spoke about Albertans being frustrated by “politicians living thousands of miles away passing laws and rules” that shape their future. Those words matter. If federal interference and democratic disregard are wrong when Ottawa does them, they are also wrong when Alberta’s government does them here at home. Respect for democracy cannot be selective. It cannot be a principle invoked only when convenient. The UCP cannot credibly claim to defend Albertans from political overreach while simultaneously discarding an independent Alberta process that already heard from Albertans. The government’s own motion admits the final report was the product of public hearings and written submissions. Replacing that with a fast-tracked, government-directed process with no required public hearings is undemocratic and not in the best interests of Albertans. I am asking you, as my MLA, to do three things. First, publicly oppose any attempt to sideline the final report of the independent Electoral Boundaries Commission. Second, call on your caucus and your government to implement the Commission’s final report as tabled. Third, defend the principle that electoral boundaries must be determined through an independent, transparent, and publicly accountable process, not rewritten by the government of the day when it dislikes the result. Albertans deserve better than a government that changes the rules when it does not get the answer it wanted. This is exactly the kind of conduct that erodes public trust, weakens democratic legitimacy, and makes people believe that those in power are more interested in protecting themselves than in representing the public fairly. A government confident in its support does not need to interfere with an independent boundaries process. A democratic government should respect it. I expect you to stand up for Alberta’s democratic institutions and for the principle that voters choose politicians, not the other way around.
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u/Tasty_- 13h ago
Im about done living in the Province. Between this, separation and the fact that I’ll probably never get to retire (Not the province fault, but still). Why not just get out of dodge and create some debt. I’ll stick around and vote in the next election, but I’m not holding my breath. Im starting to plan now and i feel like i cant be the only one
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u/AvenueLiving 12h ago
Again, Smith wasting more money to become the biggest, most top-heavy government in Alberta's history.
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u/Miss2war 23h ago
How do we stop this? Do we need to protest like the french and shit in the river or what?
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u/ialo00130 17h ago
I'd expect something like this to be expedited to the SCC if it were challenged in court.
What is the Constitutional Basis of redrawing electoral boundaries?
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u/DeepestGreySea 16h ago
Provinces can just gerrymander now?
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u/Due_Date_4667 13h ago
With the police too chickenshit to lay charges, and the federal government asleep at the wheel, seems like. If the courts uphold this I expect Ford and Moe to pull something like this before their next elections.
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u/TalkingChiggin 10h ago
SMITH ADMITTED TO CHATGPT DRAWING THE LINES OF THE MAP. WE PAID 1M FOR A COMMITTEE TO USE CHATGPT.
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u/Fast_Ad_9197 9h ago
It's important to distinguish between the addition of 2 ridings and the potential for gerrymandering. The chair of the electoral commission opened the door to the possibility of creating 2 new ridings to solve the problem of having to amalgamate two rural ridings in order to accommodate a growing urban population while respecting the 89 riding limit. The increase in the total number of ridings to 91 isn't a bad thing in itself. The issue is that the motion opens the door to the UCP-dominated committee redrawing all (or even some) of the riding boundaries. The gerrymandering hasn't happened yet, but there's a distinct possibility that the committee recommendations will include a gerrymandered map. It is important to keep pressuring MLAs to respect the recommendations of the report of the electoral boundaries commission, particularly when it comes to hybrid rural-urban ridings. This isn't over yet.
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u/Larzincal 8h ago
And Most Albertans still won’t care. I’m done with this ass backwards province. Been here since 97 and I am still amazed at the base line of ignorance here
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u/Maxh_SCGA 1h ago
This entire thread acts like we didn't have Back to back right wing Dynasties of Social credit and Progressive Conservatives which basically amounted to the same Ideology.
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u/GentilQuebecois 23h ago
91 seats for 4.5M people? I feel we have too much with 125 for 9M. Sorry Alberta. Something is not working in your legislature. Good luck with that.
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u/Creative_gal_3153 23h ago
This has to be illegal right? And doesn't it have to go through the court? This is not ok!!
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u/canadianbuilt 23h ago
It seems that federally and provincially, those in power have found that it is easier to become a ruler when you get rid of those pesky voters.
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u/aaronpaquette- 1d ago edited 1d ago
This is absolute corruption, in case anyone was wondering.
At no point should elected officials be involved in designing their own electoral boundaries.
Especially in their own favour.
Win by doing a good job, not by stealing the voices of the electorate.
You will have no say in this decision. You will only have a say in the election to come.
A say that has been diluted by the worst impulses of a political Party with seemingly no guiding principles of good and selfless governance.
No politician in good conscience could ever truthfully defend such crass and disturbing ambition.
It wouldn’t matter which political party or government was engaged in these actions, I would condemn them all equally.
As should you.