Alberta’s justice minister is pouring cold water on Elections Alberta’s request to delay the next provincial election as concerns over changes to electoral boundaries continue.
In a letter to Elections Alberta, Justice Minister Mickey Amery said the government has “no intention of changing” the date of the provincial election, which is legislated to take place on or before Oct. 18, 2027.
“Alberta’s fixed election date is established by law and provides Albertans with certainty and predictability concerning the democratic process,” wrote Amery.
His letter was in response to Chief Electoral Officer Gordon McClure, who wrote to Speaker Ric McIver suggesting the election either be held with the current electoral boundaries or be postponed.
McClure said in a letter, shared by the Opposition NDP, that either option would give the elections body sufficient time to hold the vote with integrity and safeguards in place.
A contentious report is set to be released this week on new electoral boundaries that the NDP previously said amount to gerrymandering in two cities in southern Alberta – Lethbridge and Calgary.
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Gerrymandering, a practice more often seen in the U.S. than in Canada, involves designing voting districts not to reflect geography or population patterns, but to concentrate or fragment voters to benefit a political party.
Though the report has yet to be released, Opposition Leader Naheed Nenshi made the gerrymandering allegation after he was briefed on the report.
Two members of the committee that wrote the report also said the suggested ridings draw a line between rural and urban voters.
The report has been put before an all-party legislative committee and is set to be tabled Monday in the legislature. But McClure cautioned that disagreements could create delays.
A typical provincial vote, McClure said, requires up to 18 months of preparations. He added his agency has been stretched thin.
Amery argued in his letter that the legislature will consider the full report and determine the final electoral boundaries before the end of the fall sitting.
“That timetable will provide your office with approximately 320 days (about 11 full months) to prepare for and administer the next provincial election,” Amery wrote.
He added Alberta law doesn’t guarantee Elections Alberta “lengthy advance notice” of a general election.
In 2024, Smith’s government moved the fixed election date every four years from May to October to avoid clashing with major natural disasters like wildfires or floods which are more common in the spring in Alberta.
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