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EDMONTON — As Alberta’s hotly debated proposed riding boundary changes were set to be made public Monday, the Opposition NDP made a last-ditch plea for the government to change course.
NDP Opposition house leader Christina Gray said anything short of the government adopting the majority report of a previous, independent boundary commission would be a slap in the face to Albertans.
“The maps that are about to be tabled include a continuation of cheating and trying to take away Albertans’ rights to a free and fair election,” she said.
“It’s deeply disrespectful to Albertans,” she said.
NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi has said Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservatives are aiming to use their legislative majority to rig the new boundaries in order to give themselves an unfair advantage in next year’s election.
Nenshi, after being briefed by his members who had seen the report of the new boundaries, said the UCP plans to gerrymander ridings in battleground election districts in Lethbridge and Calgary.
Gerrymandering, which is common in the United States, sees electoral districts drawn up not for reasons of shared geography and priorities but by voting patterns in order to assist one political party.
The NDP says it will be challenging the new ridings in court if the government approves them.
In another development, Alberta Chief Electoral Officer Gordon McClure has warned he’s running out of time to have everything ready for the scheduled polling day on Oct. 18, 2027.
McClure said last week the election should be held with the current electoral boundaries or be postponed, citing time and resource constraints.
Justice Minister Mickey Amery rejected that suggestion over the weekend, saying he expects the agency overseeing the vote to prepare within 11 months.
He said he expects the legislature to determine the final boundaries before the Christmas break.
Gray said the original commission’s map acknowledges population growth across the province without the delay of redrawing the map. The last time the boundaries were adjusted was 2017.
“All of this is incredibly abnormal,” she said.
Nenshi said last week in the legislature the report suggests the panel in charge of drafting new boundaries appeared to receive instructions from the government and wasn’t independent.
“Everything about it violates every democratic norm in Alberta. Why is the government so scared of fair elections?” he asked.
Premier Smith accused Nenshi of questioning the integrity of judges, including Brian O’Ferrall, a former judge and the chair of the panel responsible for the redraw.
Last week in the legislature, she told Nenshi to quit complaining and begin campaigning instead.
Smith’s chief of staff, Rob Anderson, took to social media last week to deny accusations from the NDP that her government is pulling strings to manipulate the vote in her favour, saying the new maps were drawn by an independent judge-led committee.
“It’s a lie to say it’s the UCP,” he wrote.
He also said the NDP is pushing back because “they don’t want any change whatsoever that could level the playing field.”
The process has been mired in controversy since Smith rejected the main recommendations of a public boundaries commission early this year when the commission came back with a split report.
Bucking political norms, Smith’s government voted it down in the legislature and restarted the redrawing process with a new advisory panel.
That new panel was given new marching orders based on some recommendations from the previous commission’s chair — including expanding the number of ridings to 91 from 87.
The panel did not conduct public hearings and had a tighter timeline than the previous commission.
McClure is scheduled to appear before a legislature committee later this week.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 2, 2026.
Lisa Johnson and Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press
