Alberta government appoints advisers to riding boundary panel amid NDP opposition

Alberta's United Conservative Party government has approved bringing in a political scientist and pollster to advise a panel redrawing the province's electoral boundaries, a move that prompted sharp opposition from NDP legislators.

The legislature committee overseeing the panel voted to allow the advisers to offer expertise on voting behaviour. UCP committee member Garth Rowswell said the appointments are meant to give the panel access to people it feels can aid the work.

NDP committee member Kathleen Ganley countered that bringing in advisers to analyze voter behaviour would only harm Albertans' right to vote. "All of that will be kept under the dome of secrecy, because the UCP refuses to allow the public to see what they're doing," Ganley told the committee on Tuesday.

The committee also approved allowing panel chair retired judge Brian O'Ferrell to enlist a lawyer for legal advice. The effort comes after Premier Danielle Smith's government set aside most of a report from a previous independent public commission earlier this year, opting instead to restart the boundary redrawing process.

The government has said the new process ensures fair representation for rural areas. It also increased the number of new ridings to ensure rural Alberta doesn't lose seats as the province's population continues to shift toward urban centres.

The NDP has accused the UCP of using rural representation as cover to redraw multiple ridings to advantage the governing party ahead of an October 2027 election. NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi called the latest redrawing effort illegitimate but said his party agreed to participate to hold the UCP accountable. Ganley said the panel should base decisions on equal representation, not voter intent.