Slug: Local daylight/equalization votes
WESTLOCK - Town & Country This Week voters were lockstep with most Albertans calling for the elimination of equalization payments to the federal government, but diverged from the majority on the question of turning their clocks backwards and forwards and would have liked to have seen daylight savings time adopted year-round.
Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock MLA Glenn van Dijken even offered up how he voted in the two referendum questions posted by the province as part of the Oct. 18 municipal election. When it came to the first question — Should section 36(2) of the Constitution Act, 1982 – Parliament and the government of Canada’s commitment to the principle of making equalization payments – be removed from the constitution? — van Dijken said he voted ‘yes.’
Out of 1,092,639 Albertans who voted on that question, 642,501 also agreed, while 399,169 voted ‘no’ — of note there were 50,969 rejected ballots and 49,336 blank ballots.
At a news conference Oct. 26, Premier Jason Kenney said the equalization result sent a "powerful" statement to the federal government, a comment echoed by van Dijken in an Oct. 28 interview.
“Our results locally are around three quarters, about 77 per cent, against equalization and that doesn’t surprise me. I’ve heard it loud and clear over the last six years that people are disillusioned with the Canadian federation and our ability to function as a federation.”
The equalization vote was a part of the UCP's platform in the 2019 provincial election, with Kenney stating then that Alberta has concerns over billions of dollars its residents pay, while provinces such as British Columbia and Quebec obstruct oil and pipeline projects that underpin province's wealth. The constitution can't be changed without the consent of two-thirds of the provinces with at least 50 per cent of the population of all of them combined.
“When one of our main industries comes under attack from other jurisdictions, as well as the federal government, that’s when Albertans really become disappointed and disillusioned,” said van Dijken.
In Westlock County, 1,558 voted ‘yes’ and only 377 voted ‘no.’ In the Town of Westlock the vote was 795 in the ‘yes’ camp and 322 in the ‘no’, while in the Village of Clyde 34 people voted ‘yes’ and 25 were in the ‘no’ camp.
The County of Barrhead saw 1,304 say ‘yes’ and 313 respond ‘no’, while in the Town of Barrhead the vote was 904 ‘yes’ and 362 ‘no.’
In the Town of Athabasca, 424 said ‘yes’ versus 243 who voted ‘no’, while in Athabasca County 1,696 people said ‘yes’ and 453 said no. In Boyle, which includes the Summer Villages of Mewatha Beach and Bondiss, the vote was 179 ‘yes’ and 60 ‘no.’
The different political cultures of Alberta's two largest cities were also reflected in the results. In Edmonton, 51.9 per cent were against and 48.1 per cent were in favour, while Calgary showed much stronger support for the idea — 58.2 per cent voted ‘yes’ while 41.8 said ‘no.’
And while the slim majority of Albertans voted ‘no’ to Question 2 — Do you want Alberta to adopt year-round Daylight Saving Time, which is summer hours, eliminating the need to change our clocks twice a year? — the slim majority of local voters would have preferred not to have to change their clocks twice yearly.
Province-wide, 50.2 per cent, 536.874, voted against year-round daylight savings time compared to 49.8 cent, 531,782, who wanted it changed. Daylight time was originally enacted in Alberta after the public voted in favour of adopting the practice in a 1971 plebiscite — voters had initially rejected the change during a vote in 1967.
van Dijken said he too voted against adopting daylight savings time year round and says the issue needs to be looked at with neighbouring provinces and the United States. He said he wasn’t surprised by the close vote across the province.
“When I first became an MLA in 2015 there were people who were definitely against changing the clocks back and forth. It didn’t come up a lot, but I have heard from residents on it,” he noted.
“Personally I find great benefit in changing the clocks in the spring. And I would not be excited about being in the dark until 9:30, 10 in the morning throughout the winter. But we have governments all around us and I expect debate on this will probably continue.”
The only area community that voted to keep the status quo was the Village of Clyde, as 28 voted to go to year-round daylight savings and 34 were against.
In Westlock County, 1052 said ‘yes’ to going to daylight saving fulltime, while 909 were against while in the Town of Westlock there were 656 who said ‘yes’ and 496 against.
The vote in Barrhead saw 719 residents vote ‘yes’ versus 583 opposed, while in the county, 869 said ‘yes’ and 769 said ‘no.’
The Town of Athabasca saw 391 residents vote ‘yes’ and 312 ‘no’, while county residents came in at 1,350 for ‘yes’ and 831 for ‘no.’ In Boyle the vote was also close, with 143 saying ‘yes’ and 101 voting ‘no.’
