Is Gerrymandering Coming to Alberta?

Professor Duane Bratt of Mount Royal University weighs in.

The Gravity Well

Apr 20, 2026

This episode is a discussion between host Jenny Yeremiy and Professor Duane Bratt from Mount Royal University about Alberta’s Electoral Boundaries Commission process, their one-of-its-kind report, and recent government intervention which looks a lot like gerrymandering.

TAKE ACTION: Email Your MLA, the Premier, and the Justice Minister, cc’ing every elected official in Alberta. Scroll down for an example letter!

On the Original Commission Process

The Alberta government created an Electoral Boundaries Commission in 2024 to redraw electoral maps for the 2027 election. The commission was structured with five members: a retired judge (Justice Miller) as chair, two government appointees, and two NDP appointees. They were limited to increasing seats from 87 to only 89.

The commission spent about a year conducting public hearings and reviewing submissions, ultimately producing a unanimous interim report that all five members agreed upon. The report recommended adding seats in Calgary, Edmonton, and Airdrie due to population growth, while amalgamating some rural ridings in Central and Northern Alberta.

The Split in the Final Report

Something unusual happened between December and January - the two United Conservative Party (UCP) appointees completely changed their position and created an entirely different map . This resulted in two separate reports: a majority report (supported by Justice Miller and the two NDP appointees) that largely maintained the interim recommendations, and a minority report from the two UCP appointees that proposed extensive “hybrid ridings”.

The minority report extended urban ridings far into rural areas - for example, a Lethbridge riding extending to the BC border and Calgary’s Glenmore riding extending almost to BC. Professor Bratt argues this appeared to be gerrymandering designed to dilute urban (NDP-leaning) votes by combining them with rural (UCP-dominated) areas.

Summary continues below ad.

Join Markham Hislop and I, THIS FRIDAY from 6-8 pm in Calgary at the Montgomery Community Association. Let’s talk water, energy, and any other concerns you’d like to discuss under Danielle Smith’s Alberta and Mark Carney’s Canada. Ask me questions about the recall campaign, ask Markham about guests and what he seems coming in the global electric revolution.

Get Your Tickets Here!

Don’t let the ticket price be a barrier, grab a Student & Senior free ticket!

Government’s New Process

Rather than adopting either report, the government announced yesterday they will recreate the entire process. They’re establishing a new legislative committee chaired by MLA Brandon Lunty, supported by another independent panel with the same structure as the original commission. This new process will take only six months instead of over a year and won’t hold new public hearings.

Constitutional and Legal Concerns

Justice Miller’s majority report stated the minority recommendations were likely unconstitutional under Section 3 of the Charter of Rights (fair elections). Unlike other Charter sections, Section 3 cannot be overridden using the notwithstanding clause. If a gerrymandered map is adopted, court challenges are expected that could nullify it, potentially forcing use of the old 87-seat map despite significant population changes.

Broader Democratic Concerns

Professor Bratt places this within a pattern of “erosion of Democratic norms in Alberta,” including attacks on universities, judges, municipalities, weakening Elections Alberta, and frequent use of the notwithstanding clause. He argues this undermines public trust in electoral fairness and feeds into separatist narratives.

The timeline is also problematic - Elections Alberta needs about 18 months to prepare for elections, but the new report won’t come until October 2026, just one year before the 2027 election, while also handling up to 10 referendum questions.

My Take

Smith’s UCP wants to forget the ABEBC’s efforts and use the 2023 maps, this way urban votes count less than rural votes and defeat the entire purpose of the commission to begin with: to balance the population growth.

TAKE ACTION: Write the PM, your Premier, justice ministers, and MLAs!

Subject: Stand up for democracy - accept majority electoral boundary commission report!

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published

To: mark.carney@parl.gc.ca, ministerial.correspondenceunit-mailout@justice.gc.ca, premier@gov.ab.ca, ministryofjustice@gov.ab.ca, Calgary.Bow@assembly.ab.ca

Cc: Rajan Sawhney <Calgary.Northwest@assembly.ab.ca>, Peter Guthrie <airdrie-cochrane@assembly.ab.ca>, Angela Pitt <Airdrie.East@assembly.ab.ca>, Glen ven Dijken <Athabasca.Barrhead.Westlock@assembly.ab.ca>, Scott Cyr <Bonnyville.ColdLake.StPaul@assembly.ab.ca>, Sarah Elmeligi <Banff.Kananaskis@assembly.ab.ca>, Danielle Smith <Brooks.MedicineHat@assembly.ab.ca>, Diana Batten <Calgary.Acadia@assembly.ca>, Amanda Chapman <Calgary.Beddington@assembly.ab.ca>, Irfan Sabir <Calgary.Bhullar.McCall@assembly.ab.ca>, Joe Ceci <Calgary.Buffalo@assembly.ab.ca>, Mickey Amery <Calgary.Cross@assembly.ab.ca>, Janet Eremenko <Calgary.Currie@assembly.ab.ca>, Peter Singh <Calgary.East@assembly.ab.ca>, Julia Hayter <Calgary.Edgemont@assembly.ab.ca>, Samir Kayande <Calgary.Elbow@assembly.ab.ca>, Parmeet Singh <Calgary.Falconridge@assembly.ab.ca>, Myles McDougall <Calgary.FishCreek@assembly.ab.ca>, Court Ellingson <Calgary.Foothills@assembly.ab.ca>, Nagwan Al-Guneid <Calgary.Glenmore@assembly.ab.ca>, Ric McIver <Calgary.Hays@assembly.ab.ca>, Lizette Tejada <Calgary.Klein@assembly.ab.ca>, Eric Bouchard <Calgary.Lougheed@assembly.ab.ca>, Kathleen Ganley <Calgary.MountainView@assembly.ab.ca>, Gurinder Brar <Calgary.NorthEast@assembly.ab.ca>, Tanya Fir <Calgary.Peigan@assembly.ab.ca>, Rebecca Schultz <Calgary.Shaw@assembly.ab.ca>, Matt Jones <Calgary.SouthEast@assembly.ab.ca>, Luanne Metz <Calgary.Varsity@assembly.ab.ca>, Mike Ellis <Calgary.West@assembly.ab.ca>, Jackie Lovely <Camrose@assembly.ab.ca>, Joseph Schow <Cardston.Siksika@assembly.ab.ca>, Todd Loewen <Central.Peace.Notley@assembly.ab.ca>, Chantelle de Jonge <Chestermere.Strathmore@assembly.ab.ca>, Justin Wright <Cypress.MedicineHat@assembly.ab.ca>, Andrew Boitchenko <DraytonValley.Devon@assembly.ab.ca>, Nate Horner <Drumheller.Stettler@assembly.ab.ca>, Peggy Wright <Edmonton.BeverlyClareview@assembly.ab.ca>, Nicole Goehring <Edmonton.Castledowns@assembly.ab.ca>, David Shepherd <Edmonton.CityCentre@assembly.ab.ca>, Sharif Haji <Edmonton.Decore@assembly.ab.ca>, Gurtej Singh Brar <Edmonton.Ellerslie@assembly.ab.ca>, Sarah Hoffman <Edmonton.Glenora@assembly.ab.ca>, Janis Irwin <Edmonton.HighlandsNorwood@assembly.ab.ca>, Heather Sweet <Edmonton.Manning@assembly.ab.ca>, Lorne Dach <Edmonton.McClung@assembly.ab.ca>, Jasvir Deol <Edmonton.Meadows@assembly.ab.ca>, Christina Gray <Edmonton.Millwoods@assembly.ab.ca>, David Eggen <Edmonton.Northwest@assembly.ab.ca>, Lori Sigurdson <Edmonton.Riverview@assembly.ab.ca>, Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse <Edmonton.Rutherford@assembly.ab.ca>, Rhiannon Hoyle <Edmonton.South@assembly.ab.ca>, Nathan Ip <Edmonton.SouthWest@assembly.ab.ca>, Naheed Nenshi <Nenshi@albertandp.ca>, Brooks Arcand-Paul <EdmontonWestHenday@assembly.ab.ca>, Rakhi Pancholi <Edmonton.Whitemud@assembly.ab.ca>, Brian Jean <FortMcMurray.LacLaBiche@assembly.ab.ca>, Tany Yao <FortMcMurray.WoodBuffalo@assembly.ab.ca>, Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk <FortSaskatchewan.Vegreville@assembly.ab.ca>, Nolan Dyck <GrandePrairie@assembly.ba.ca>, Ron Wiebe <GrandPrairie.Wapiti@assembly.ab.ca>, "R.J. Sigurdson" <Highwood@assembly.ab.ca>, Devin Dreeshan <Innisfail.SylvanLake@assembly.ab.ca>, Shane Getson <LacSteAnne.Parkland@assembly.ab.ca>, Jennifer Johnson <Lacombe.Ponoka@assembly.ab.ca>, Brandon Lunty <Leduc.Beaumont@assembly.ab.ca>, Scott Sinclair <Lesser.SlaveLake@assembly.ab.ca>, Nathan Neudorf <Lethbridge.East@assembly.ab.ca>, Rob Miyashiro <Lethbridge.West@assembly.ab.ca>, Chelsea Petrovic <Livingstone.Macleod@assembly.ab.ca>, Rick Wilson <Maskwacis.Wetaskiwin@assembly.ab.ca>, Muhammad Yaseen <Calgary.North@assembly.ab.ca>, Dale Nally <Morinville.StAlbert@assembly.ab.ca>, Tara Sawyer <OldsDidsbury.ThreeHills@assembly.ab.ca>, Dan Williams <Peace.River@assembly.ab.ca>, Adrianna LaGrange <RedDeer.North@assembly.ab.ca>, Jason Stephan <RedDeer.South@assembly.ab.ca>, Jason Nixon <Rimbey.RockyMountainhouse.Sundre@assembly.ab.ca>, Kyle Kasawski <Sherwood.Park@assembly.ab.ca>, Searle Turton <SpruceGrove.StonyPlain@assembly.ab.ca>, Marie Renaud <St.Albert@assembly.ab.ca>, Garth Rowswell <Vermillion.Lloydminster.Wainwright@assembly.ab.ca>, Grant Hunter <Taber.Warner@assembly.ab.ca>, Nate Glubish <Strathcona.Sherwoodpark@assembly.ab.ca>, Martin Long <West.Yellowhead@assembly.ab.ca>

Prime Minister Mark Carney, Justice Ministers, Premier, and my MLA for Calgary-Bow

I am writing as a deeply-alarmed Albertan concerned by the UCP's clear move to gerrymander this province's electoral map ahead of the 2027 election while the clock is ticking.

The 2025-2026 Electoral Boundaries Commission (ABEBC) issued a final report recommending a net gain of two new seats, one in Calgary and one for Edmonton, to accommodate population growth, and consolidate two rural ridings. The commission chair, Dallas Miller, a retired judge appointed by Danielle Smith's own cabinet, joined with the UCP and NDP-appointed commissioners supported their majority report unanimously.

Suddenly, the two UCP-appointed commissioners decided it wasn't good enough, and issued “the minority report”. I personally opposed it, with a few other RecallNicolaides.ca community members, in the January Calgary public hearing. We outlined the clear attempts by my MLA Demetrios Nicolaides and neighbouring MLA, Rajan Sawhney, to gerrymander Calgary-Bow while he was being recalled.

Their minority report would slice Alberta's cities into a pizza pie "urban" ridings, deliberately diluting NDP urban support across the province, eerily similar to Greg Abbott's model efforts this year in Texas. The commission chair himself warned that the minority report's approach is likely unconstitutional, running afoul of Section 3 of the Charter, which protects the right to meaningful representation. The majority report noted that the minority's recommendations appear "motivated by other considerations" rather than effective representation and sternly remarked that "our friends south of the border may have a term for this type of redistricting." https://www.assembly.ab.ca/docs/default-source/about-documents/legislative-assembly-office/other-reports/ebcfinalreport.pdf

Yes, it’s called gerrymandering!

What makes this even more concerning is Justice Minister Mickey Amery's reversal. Before the final report was released, Amery had repeatedly stated that the government does and will not draw the boundaries and that he would respect the independent process. Once he saw that the report didn't suit the UCP's interests, he announced that "all options are on the table". As Opposition Leader Nenshi put it, "anything short of implementing the majority report in its entirety is election rigging," and he's absolutely right.

The integrity of the process used to determine electoral districts is foundational to representative democracy. Any partisan interference poisons the legitimacy of the electoral outcomes. This raises the very real possibility that district boundaries will be drawn to guarantee a result on voting day rather than reflect the will of Albertans.

Minority reports from government-appointed commissioners complete with alternative maps are unprecedented in Alberta electoral history. What the UCP is doing is a page ripped out of the authoritarian playbook. Canadians, and Albertans, have watched this play out south of the border, and we said that it cannot happen here. But now it is, under the UCP government.

I demand:

1. The majority report must be implemented in full. No cherry-picking, no incorporation of the minority maps, and no hybrid compromise that rewards bad-faith participation.

2. Minister Amery must publicly commit to honouring the independent process he promised to respect before the report was released.

3. The Legislative Assembly must not be weaponized to override an independent commission's findings for partisan gain.

Albertans are not ignorant, we know what gerrymandering looks like and we know what a blatant power grab looks like. We will remember, at the ballot box and in the ridings that you are so eager to redraw, who stood up for democracy and who is trying to actively dismantle it.