{"id":355528,"date":"2021-10-20T17:14:18","date_gmt":"2021-10-20T14:14:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/alberta-votes-against-equalization-in-a-province-wide-referendum\/"},"modified":"2021-10-20T17:14:18","modified_gmt":"2021-10-20T14:14:18","slug":"alberta-votes-against-equalization-in-a-province-wide-referendum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/alberta-votes-against-equalization-in-a-province-wide-referendum\/","title":{"rendered":"#Alberta votes against equalization in a province-wide referendum"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Alberta votes against equalization in a province-wide referendum<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n Politics Insider for Oct. 20, 2021: A vote against equalization; new mayors in Calgary and Edmonton; Green Party cuts\n <\/div>\n
\n Welcome to a sneak peek of the <\/em>Maclean\u2019s Politics Insider news<\/a>letter. Sign up to get it delivered straight to your inbox in the morning. <\/em><\/p>\n

Albertans voted on Monday in a province-wide plebiscite calling for the equalization system (an area of federal jurisdiction) to be removed from the constitution, and while the results won\u2019t be known for another week, it looks like it passed<\/a>. Advocates say this should lead to reform in the program, the Post<\/em> reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kevin Lacey<\/strong>, the Alberta director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, described the referendum as one of the \u201cbiggest and most significant constitutional referendums\u201d since the Charlottetown Accord\u2019s failure in 1992. \u201cAlbertans delivered a clear message that while they\u2019re willing to contribute to Canada, they won\u2019t be taken advantage of anymore and the results show that Albertans want to stand up and they want to see change<\/strong>,\u201d Lacey told the National Post.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Just a baby step:<\/strong> Political scientist Barry Cooper<\/strong> tells the Hill Times<\/em><\/a> the next step ought to be a referendum on independence.<\/p>\n

Not a big deal:<\/strong> Other political scientists, though, say the vote carries no legal weight<\/strong> and won\u2019t force Ottawa to do anything.<\/p>\n

\u201cA change in the Constitution requires something close to total consensus right across Canada,\u201d said Eric Adams, a professor at the University of Alberta specializing in constitutional law. \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s a surprise to anybody that Alberta is nowhere near reaching that consensus on equalization, and I don\u2019t think that\u2019s going to change.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Waters muddied:<\/strong> In the Globe<\/em>, Andrew Coyne<\/strong> argues amusingly<\/a> that the rest of Canada should ignore the vote.<\/p>\n

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Moreover, the results in Alberta are anything but \u201cclear.\u201d Not only is the majority unlikely to much exceed 50 per cent, but the meaning of the vote was greatly muddied by the Premier, Jason Kenney<\/strong>, who insisted it was not about the question on the ballot \u2013 the one that he put there \u2013 but rather about giving Alberta \u201cleverage\u201d to demand changes to the program.<\/p>\n

Again, this would be sufficient for the rest of Canada to ignore the result. A referendum on an explicit demand for a specific constitutional change is one thing, but a referendum that has been publicly and repeatedly described by its sponsors as a giant bluff practically begs to be disregarded.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Focus on seats:<\/strong> In the Calgary Herald<\/em>, Rob Breakenridge<\/strong> argues persuasively<\/a> that adding three seats to the House of Commons for chronically underrepresented Alberta will do more than the referendum to give Alberta clout in Ottawa.<\/p>\n

New mayors:<\/strong> Edmonton and Calgary also elected new mayors<\/a>, both of whom are of first-generation Canadians with Punjabi heritage.<\/p>\n

Vaccine mandate on Hill:<\/strong> MPs will have to be vaccinated to enter the parliamentary precinct, the board of internal economy has decided, CTV reports<\/a>. Will some Conservatives object? There is reason to wonder.<\/a> The Western Standard<\/em> likens the unjabbed<\/a> to Soviet spies.<\/p>\n

Green job cuts:\u00a0<\/strong>The Green Party is laying off staff as the party brass look to shave costs, CP reports<\/a>. Also, Annamie Paul is still the leader<\/strong>, app<\/a>arently.<\/p>\n

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Paul, who announced last month she would resign, remains in the top spot as she negotiates with Green executives about compensation for costs incurred during legal battles with the party, sources say.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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\nN.B. ousts Mountie:<\/strong>\u00a0The Blaine Higgs government has pushed out the top New Brunswick Mountie,\u00a0Assistant Commissioner Larry Tremblay<\/strong>,\u00a0Jacques Poitras<\/strong> reports<\/a> for CBC. Public Safety Minister Ted Flemming<\/strong> wrote to Commissioner Brenda Lucki<\/strong> in July asking the for the change, and for the force to make drug crime a higher priority.<\/p>\n

How they lost:<\/strong> Defeated CPC MP James Cumming<\/strong> is set to examine how Tories lost votes to both the PPC and NDP as part of his review of the recent election for the party, CP reports<\/a>. \u201cAnywhere that we\u2019ve had bleed of vote, I think that that\u2019s important that we study and understand what the factors were, so the PPC would represent some of that<\/strong>.\u00a0In Alberta we saw significant bleed of vote to the NDP<\/strong>, so that\u2019s an entirely different situation \u2026 in all cases we have to look at where we performed and where we didn\u2019t perform and do that analysis on a riding-by-riding basis, region-by-region basis to better understand what the dynamics are within that vote.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Stephen Maher<\/strong>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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