Alberta Premier Smith defends proposed riding redraw that Opposition calls cheating

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is defending a proposal to redraw provincial boundaries in a way the Opposition NDP says is cheating.

The legislature is soon expected to debate a report that pitches diluting urban ridings in the city of Lethbridge by merging them with surrounding rural ones.

Smith says so-called hybrid ridings are accepted practice and work elsewhere in the province.

The Opposition NDP says many changes suggested in the report are designed to give Smith’s United Conservatives an unfair advantage heading into the 2027 election through a process known as gerrymandering.