Mount Royal University Professor Dwayne Bratt rejoins me on The Gravity Well to discuss two main topics: the US midterm elections and Alberta’s electoral boundary -re-review process. On the US elections, Bratt predicts significant Democratic gains in both the House and Senate, citing factors including poor Republican candidate selection, economic issues tied to Trump’s policies, and growing public awareness of corruption within the Trump administration. I draw parallels between Republican overreach in the US and political developments in Alberta.
Our conversation then shifts to Alberta’s recent referendum results, where Bratt asserts Premier Danielle Smith’s constitutional proposals as a “major rebuke” with the separation question failing 75% to 25% and all other government-backed questions either losing or securing only narrow support. He notes Smith has since attempted to purge separatist elements from her United Conservative Party while paradoxically appearing at pro-separatist media events where, by the way, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith Says She’s Considering repealing hate speech section from the Human Rights Act.
Duane details the electoral boundary changes, which he describes as unprecedented gerrymandering designed to favor rural UCP strongholds over urban areas that rejected the government’s referendum agenda. He explains how the process abandoned decades of non-partisan convention by rejecting an arms-length commission’s unanimous interim report in favor of a politically appointed panel producing maps that strategically “pack and crack” opposition voters—particularly in Lethbridge, Calgary, and Banff-Canmore. Bratt anticipates court challenges will likely force a return to 2023 boundaries for the next election, while warning that violating democratic norms creates lasting damage regardless of judicial intervention.
Is Gerrymandering coming to Alberta?
Call on your MLA to vote down the gerrymandered boundaries, ask them to prove their loyalty to Canadian political norms. Learn more from previous conversations with Duane on gerrymandering:
And on the 3-million-person voter data breach and potential foreign interference Alberta’s referendum:
