'PACKING AND CRACKING': NDP accuses UCP of attempting to rig elections by mixing urban and rural voters

EDMONTON — The Alberta NDP is accusing the UCP of attempting to gerrymander its way to a permanent majority government, as the committee charged with recommending updated electoral boundary maps debated an independent panel’s report on Wednesday.“No other Canadian government in history has ever tried to do what Danielle Smith is trying to do right now: cheating to rig the election to win,” said Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi following a meeting of the Select Special Committee on Electoral Boundaries. "This is Trump-style, MAGA-style gerrymandering. We've never seen it in Canada before, and one of the reasons we haven't seen it in Canada before is because it's probably unconstitutional. And Danielle Smith is going to be very excited to learn that her precious notwithstanding clause does not apply to democratic rights."Wednesday’s meeting saw committee members discuss the recommended maps provided by an independent panel. The panel was tasked with redesigning the Alberta Electoral Boundaries Commission’s majority-recommended electoral boundary maps. Premier Danielle Smith and the UCP have said they initiated a second boundaries review process to follow the initial report’s addendum recommendation: take the majority-recommended maps and reinsert two ridings into rural Alberta..The panel’s report will not be publicly available until it is presented to the legislature on Monday, but the committee reviewed it before passing it on Wednesday. The Alberta NDP is warning Albertans that the recommendations stray far from Smith’s stated mandate.MLAs Christina Gray and Kathleen Ganley raised concerns including the creation of four hybrid ridings in Lethbridge and southern Alberta, as well as three in northwest Calgary that include portions of Springbank. Another change would supposedly split Okotoks and Diamond Valley, with the latter being paired with Banff. They said the maps dilute Alberta NDP votes in urban areas by combining them with UCP-supporting rural regions.“I lost five bucks because I bet that the premier would actually be as good as her word, but Albertans have really lost big under this UCP government’s gerrymandering plan,” Nenshi said during Question Period.“Urban voters having their voices diluted, rural voters being taken for granted, the people of Lethbridge being wiped off the map. I would say to the premier, that’s the disgrace. No other premier has ever cheated this way to win an election. How can the premier think this is legal, acceptable, moral, or constitutional?”.Committee chairman and UCP MLA Brandon Lunty declined to comment on the panel’s recommendations when reporters asked, saying the UCP intends to wait until the report is presented to the legislature on Monday.“I think it’s important that we respect the process, and I don’t have a comment on the contents of the report right now,” said Lunty. “You’d have to ask the NDP why they’ve chosen to speak on this publicly. Standing orders do allow for MLAs to discuss with other MLAs. They frankly have abused that privilege to discuss this publicly.”“I’m going to wait, make sure Albertans get a chance to see the report. I’m confident that the independent advisory panel report is independent, and I look forward to discussing it with my colleagues on November 2.”.Smith took a more combative approach when addressing Nenshi’s claims, saying no one is ever “fully satisfied” with electoral maps.“I wasn’t satisfied that the committee arbitrarily changed the name of my riding from Brooks-Medicine Hat to Medicine-Hat Brooks,” said Smith. “It didn’t seem to be necessary, but those are the kind of things that you just accept, because what happens is you have to put on your big boy pants.”“You got to quit complaining, and you got to start campaigning, and stop trying to undermine the results of a report that hasn’t even been released in this legislature yet. I think what we need to do, Mr. Speaker, is wait and see what the justice has recommended, and then we can debate it in this chamber.”The Alberta NDP said they intend to challenge the maps in court if the UCP passes them in the legislature.

'PACKING AND CRACKING': NDP accuses UCP of attempting to rig elections by mixing urban and rural voters

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