CALGARY — What a difference a day makes.On Wednesday, it appeared Premier Danielle Smith had seven of her nine referendum questions on immigration and constitutional reform in the bag, but overnight things have flipped to “no” for questions six to ten on the referendum ballot — all of which entail constitutional changes.Question six, which asked Albertans whether Alberta should work with other provinces to rewrite the Canadian Constitution to have the provincial government appoint justices, had previously received around 50% support but now has almost 54% of voters opposed (1,047,116 votes).At one stage, question seven, which asked whether Alberta should work with other provinces to abolish the unelected Senate, had over 52% support.On Thursday, it was at almost 51% against (930,421 votes)..Smith lays down the law to UCP members regarding Alberta independence going forward.MORGAN: Alberta's referendum results clash with Poilievre's agenda.Question eight was one of the first questions to have the majority of voters favouring “no,” with around 52% voting in the negative on Wednesday. The number has now increased to almost 55%, with 971,077 votes tallied.Lastly, the ninth question on the ballot — asking if the Alberta government should have more sovereignty over areas of shared federal and provincial jurisdiction — was polling at 52% against (909,926 votes), compared to over 50% of voters at one stage being in favour.While the four questions on the ballot regarding immigration have all maintained over 50% support over the last several days of counting, Smith did acknowledge on Wednesday that the constitutional questions were far more contested."I want to be very cautious about that and try to interpret a little bit of the result that we got back," Smith said, adding that many voters may have been skeptical about whether her government should spend time and effort advocating for constitutional changes rather than focusing on more meaningful issues for Albertans."That's why I think the numbers were so different on the immigration questions versus perhaps, and remains to be seen, but perhaps the constitutional one," she said."I think that that's a message we'll take away. We have to focus on the things that Albertans want us focusing on."
