Smith's immigration questions narrowly pass, Albertans reject constitutional changes

Most Albertans voted in favour of all five immigration-related questions on the province's referendum, though by narrow margins, while the constitutional reform questions were rejected, according to Elections Alberta. The referendum asked nine questions, excluding the separation question.

The count was completed Saturday night, about three days later than Elections Alberta had aimed for; referendum rules set a 48-hour deadline. Elections Alberta reported 20,574,612 ballots hand-counted, which it said is the highest total ever for any Canadian electoral event. Official results are due Oct. 29.

The proof-of-citizenship question, which would require proof of citizenship to vote in provincial elections, received the highest yes share of the nine at 58 per cent. The other immigration questions were about 55 per cent yes, and three questions on limiting public and social services for some non-permanent residents came in at 52.6, 53 and 52 per cent.

Premier Danielle Smith said she would prioritize changing the approach on economic migrants and would "proceed with caution" on the rest. "I think that people who came here and had certain expectations under one set of rules, it's always very difficult if you change things midstream," she told reporters. "So I want to be very cautious about that and try to interpret a little bit of the result that we got back."

The UCP government spent $4 million on an advertising campaign urging a yes vote on the nine non-separation questions. Lori Williams, a political scientist at Mount Royal University, said the results do not give Smith the mandate she wanted, given how close the vote was on every question.

Smith also said on a Calgary radio show that referendum questions were less popular in Calgary and Edmonton than in rural Alberta. She gave no timeline for any immigration bill, but said the proof-of-citizenship law would be in place before next year's provincial election. Federal law already requires residents to certify citizenship before voting.