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By Chris Brown

Albertans vote yes on equalization referendum, no on daylight saving time

Oct 26, 2021 | 11:30 AM

The majority of Albertans voted yes to the idea of removing equalization from the constitution during this month’s municipal election, and no on adopting year-round daylight saving time.

The results were posted by Elections Alberta today. Premier Jason Kenney and Service Alberta Minister Nate Glubish will speak about the referendum results and senate nominee vote at 12:30 p.m.

The question on the ballot asked “Should section 36(2) of the Constitution Act, 1982 – Parliament and the government of Canada’s commitment to the principle of making equalization payments – be removed from the constitution?”

The vote was 61.7 per cent yes, and 38.3 per cent no, or 642,501 to 399,169.

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There were also 50,969 rejected ballots and 49,336 blank ballots.

In Medicine Hat, 64.2 per cent of people voted yes (12,846 votes) and 28.3 per cent voted no (5,667 votes). There were 1,485 rejected ballots and 1,478 blank ballots.

Redcliff votes were 71.5 per cent yes (984 votes) to 23.8 no (328 votes), with 65 rejected ballots and 64 blank ones.

Cypress County voted 82.6 per cent yes (1,494 votes) and 15 per cent no (272 votes). A total of 43 ballots were rejected and 41 were blank.

In Brooks the numbers were 71 per cent yes (1,811 votes), 23 per cent no (587 votes), 152 rejected and 142 blank.

On daylight saving time, Albertans were asked “Do you want Alberta to adopt year-round Daylight Saving Time, which is summer hours, eliminating the need to change our clocks twice a year?”

The no side won by fewer than 3,000 votes. The final tally was 535,745 (50.1 per cent) to 532,911 (49.9 per cent). There were 24,304 rejected ballots and 22,907 blank ballots.

Voters in Medicine Hat were on the yes side. The vote in the city was 12,113 (60.1 per cent) to 7,473 (39.9 per cent). There were 412 rejected ballots and 409 blank ballots.

Voters in the surrounding area were also on the yes side. In Redcliff, the vote was 859 (62.4 per cent) to 490 (35.6 per cent), with 28 rejected ballots and 26 blank, while Cypress County voted 1,226 yes (67.8 per cent) and 558 no (30.8 per cent) with 25 rejected ballots and 23 blanks.

The vote was closer in Brooks, where 1,338 people voted yes (52.4 per cent) and 1,124 voted no (44 per cent). There were 93 rejected ballots and 82 blanks.

Albertans were also able to select three people to be nominated for the senate.

Pam Davidson (18.2 per cent), Erika Barootes (17.1 per cent) and Mikhailo Martyniouk (11.3 per cent) were the top three vote-getters province-wide. All three represent the Conservative Party of Canada.

They were also the preferred choice of voters in Medicine Hat, Redcliff, Cypress County and Brooks.

Both the referendum and senate nominee votes are broken down by municipality on the Elections Alberta website.