BOW VALLEY – Bow Valley communities don’t support Alberta’s bid to remove equalization from the Canadian constitution.
While a majority of Albertans province-wide who cast a ballot – estimated to be about 39 per cent of eligible voters – voted to scrap equalization in the Oct. 18 referendum – – the communities of Banff, Canmore, Jasper, Waterton and Edmonton stood alone on the no vote.
The non-binding question asked if voters support the removal of a section of the constitution that commits the federal government to redistributing taxes paid by all Canadians to ensure that all citizens, regardless of the province in which they live, have equitable access to public services.
Banff Mayor Corrie DiManno said it was a complex referendum question due to several issues packed into one yes/no question – which ended with 61.7 per cent of Alberta voters saying yes and 38.3 per cent saying no.
“It asked about removing a process from the constitution, the principle of equitable distribution of taxes, and a commitment of parliament, so that makes it difficult to interpret the reason behind how anyone voted,” said DiManno.
The mayor said it’s interesting that similar mountain towns, including national park communities of Banff, Jasper and Waterton, were more or less aligned.
“Possibly the similarity reflects the presence of Parks Canada and as such, the federal government in our daily lives, and maybe that had some bearing,” she said. “But with Edmonton also included, there could be other reasons.”
Canmore Mayor Sean Krausert said: “While personally I voted to maintain the status quo because I believe equalization is an important part of Confederation that continues to be a strength of Canada today, I don’t have any information to say why the majority of Canmore residents also voted that way.”
Edmonton was the only other community that voted against removing equalization from the constitution, with 108,059 ticking the yes box and 116,632 voters indicating no.
In Banff, which included results from Improvement District No. 9, 738 people voted yes on the referendum question and 1,039 were opposed.
Canmore saw 1,565 yes votes and 2,798 no votes. In Jasper, which includes ID No. 12,488 voters said yes and 786 voted against the question. While voter turnout was low in Waterton, 12 were opposed to removing equalization and nine were for it.
Premier Jason Kenney said the provincial referendum results mean a clear majority of Albertans sent a powerful, democratic message.
“They want a fair deal in the federation,” he said in a press release on Tuesday (Oct. 26).
“These results have given Alberta’s government a powerful mandate to secure changes to equalization and other federal transfers that have treated Albertans unfairly for so long.”
