The leader of Alberta’s Opposition NDP says Premier Danielle Smith’s governing United Conservatives are cooking the riding boundaries for their own advantage ahead of next year’s election.
Naheed Nenshi says a report now before an all-party committee gerrymanders ridings in Lethbridge and Calgary to dilute NDP support in favour of the UCP in multiple constituencies.
The report has not been made public, and it’s expected to be tabled in the legislature next week.
The NDP committee members say the city of Lethbridge, which is currently two urban ridings, will now become four ridings that take in elements of the surrounding rural areas, and they say the same is happening in northwest Calgary.
Gerrymandering is a familiar tactic in the United States that sees voting districts designed not to reflect geography or population patterns but instead to concentrate or fragment voters to benefit one particular political party.
Recent Alberta elections have seen the United Conservatives dominate in rural areas and smaller cities while the NDP have controlled Edmonton, and the two sides have battled for advantage in Calgary.
The UCP hold a majority of votes on the committee overseeing the proposed riding redraw, and committee chair Brandon Lunty — a UCP backbencher — was expected to comment later Wednesday.
More to come.
