Immigration questions get majority support, constitutional questions still close

While the result of the highly publicized referendum regarding Alberta independence has been more-or-less confirmed, the results of the nine other questions regarding immigration and constitutional reform remain relatively close.The nine questions included topics such as immigration, voting rights, the status of the Senate, and provincial jurisdiction, among others.At the time of writing, most of the questions related to immigration seem to be on track to pass comfortably, but many of the other ones are only seeing a slight lead either way.Questions one through five are all immigration-related questions and, at the time of writing, are all expected to at least get over 50% of the vote, with some currently polling at over 63%.The question with the strongest "Yes" support has been Question Five, the question that asks if proof of citizenship should be required when voting, which currently is polling at 63.3% support..Other questions seeing significant support include Question Three, proposing to give a 12-month waiting period before non-permanent residents have access to social services, as well as Question 4, which proposes charging non-permanent residents for services such as health care and education.These two questions are both polling at 58.3% support and 57.2% "Yes" support, respectively..Among the constitutional questions, Question 7, which proposes abolishing the Senate, has the most support but still sits at just 53.1% at the time of writing..Support for Question 6 and Question 9 are also currently polling at very slight majorities at the time of writing. Question 6 proposes provincial selection of King's Bench and Appeal Court judges, and Question 9 proposes that provincial laws should take precedence over federal laws when there is a conflict between the two..The only question that is currently not polling above 50% is Question 8, which proposes that provinces should be allowed to opt out of federal programs "that intrude on provincial jurisdiction" but still retain the federal funding associated with these programs.At the time of writing, 51.4% of voters have indicated they would not support this change, the only question of the nine to be polling without majority "Yes" support..These early results, Question 8 notwithstanding, will be seen as a massive win for Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, who had consistently encouraged Albertans to vote for "a strong Alberta within a united Canada" as well as to vote "Yes" to the nine questions.Votes are still being counted so the close races, especially on some of the constitutional questions, remain unable to call, but it appears that Smith will get the strong mandate she had hoped to attain when she initially called this vote.

Immigration questions get majority support, constitutional questions still close

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