Calgary’s mayor has concerns over the province’s proposed new electoral boundaries, saying he questions the independence of the process and the representation for the city.

The Government of Alberta released the report of the Independent Advisory Panel to the Select Special Committee on Electoral Boundaries on Nov. 2, about seven months after the initial Alberta Electoral Boundaries Commission produced its report.  

For Calgary, the proposed new boundary map does remain similar to the previous map, though instead of four hybrid ridings (urban plus some rural), it goes to six. There have also been additions of Bearspaw to Calgary North West, and north and south Springbank to Calgary Bow and Calgary West, respectively.

The other substantive change is that the Calgary ridings would have an average number of 56,726 people, which is 5.6 per cent above the provincial average. Under the previous boundary report, Calgary ridings were 2.6 per cent above the provincial average.

In both reports, the number of Calgary electoral ridings increased from 26 to 28.

The report’s dissenting opinion was authored by Gerard Kennedy and Brent Robinson, and it said they believe this current edition is “constitutionally fraught” and will likely end up in court. They reference the Calgary changes specifically.

“To be sure, these maps of Calgary, unlike those proposed by the ABEBC Minority Report, would likely provide the constitutional minimum assurance of effective representation,” the members wrote.

“However, they still subtly dilute the votes of Calgarians in ways that are unnecessary to achieve effective representation.”

They also believe the changes to four electoral divisions in northeast and east Calgary “seem unnecessary to achieve effective representation.”

The initial boundary commission report stirred up concerns about potential gerrymandering, particularly with the addition of rural and urban hybrid ridings.

That fury was reignited with Alberta NDP leader Naheed Nenshi saying every Albertan should be “deeply concerned.”

“This is not just about boundaries. This is about a government willing to rig the rules, manipulate the democratic process, and abuse its power to give itself a better chance of winning the next election,” Nenshi said.

“This type of MAGA-style gerrymandering is unprecedented in Canada.” 

More Calgary ridings needed: Mayor Farkas

Mayor Jeromy Farkas told reporters on Tuesday that he wants Calgary voters to contact their respective MLAs to share any concerns they might have with the new boundaries.

To start, Farkas said that while he wanted “to stay in my lane,” he noted that the City of Calgary uses an independent process to determine how its boundaries are redrawn.

“When we study and change our ward boundaries, we do so with an independent commission process, so that individual council members and politicians are not seen to be putting their finger on the scales,” he said.

“I think it’s important for us as soon as possible here at the provincial level to return to that model of governance, good governance, that the city of Calgary is showing.”

More importantly, Mayor Farkas said that the lack of representation is more concerning. He displayed a graphic showing how many of Calgary’s provincial electoral districts were over the provincial average population.

In total, there was a net 84,101 people more than if the ridings were at the provincial average, including one – Calgary-McKenzie – which would be the most populous riding in the province at 62,772 people, or 17 per cent above the average.

Both Mayor Farkas and the panel dissenters said that Calgary should have 1.5 more ridings to match the provincial average.

“I’m hoping that this concern can be alleviated, and I’m going to continue to fight as the mayor of Calgary to ensure that our votes matter here in the city of Calgary just as much as they matter elsewhere in Alberta,” he said.

“But make no mistake: The current maps, as proposed, severely shortchange Calgarians when it comes to the population in each of these ridings.”

Elections Alberta had sent a letter to Alberta Legislature Speaker Ric McIver asking the government to consider using the existing maps for the October 2027 election, or to postpone it.

Justice Minister Mickey Amery said the government has no plans to change the date and hopes to have new electoral boundaries approved by the end of the fall sitting.