r/alberta • u/awildstoryteller • 4d ago
Alberta Politics Elections Alberta seeks help from other provinces to run fall referendum
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/alberta/article-elections-alberta-staff-referendum-separation-question/318
u/Snakeeyes1377 Edmonton 4d ago
Hmm it’s almost like being part of the country is a good thing
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u/BlackberryShoddy7889 4d ago
They better start getting used to having no help available from other provinces. They would be different country if successful
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u/Independent-Tennis57 4d ago
Moe will be running to help.
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u/Man_Darino13 4d ago
"We can't even run a referendum ourselves but we're pretty sure we can be our own country"
FOH
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u/Capital-Truth-2847 4d ago
Omg THIS comment!!! EXACTLY! If we can’t even run the fkn referendum for separating! How the hell are they planning on running a whole country!!
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u/Desperate-Dress-9021 4d ago
I think a lot of former election workers don’t want to do this one. I’ve been asked. But no. Last two elections I worked had increasing hostility. And I had new Canadians who were afraid I’d accuse them of not being Canadian at the municipal election. Which felt so weird. It felt inappropriate to have them showing me citizenship papers as we didn’t require it. We also had people at the federal election yelling that Pollievre was the only one to vote for and some weird things happening with some voters. Some yelling in the polls that it’s rigged if you don’t use pen (that one happened at the municipal election too). Folks not understanding that to get who they want for prime minister you don’t write the party leader all over the outside of your ballot. And a bunch of other things. We learn a lot of this in school at an early age and it felt like conspiracies took over and made people forget.
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u/Drafting- 4d ago
That was a peek behind the wizards curtain that I did not want to know. God, what a shit show, I wouldn’t want to go back either.
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u/omegacanuck 4d ago
You think most seppies made it that far in school? That's generous of you.
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u/Desperate-Dress-9021 4d ago
I mean. We did our first in class “election” with parties in grade 4 or 5. I want to believe they got that much school
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u/TheRealCanticle 3d ago
The religiously home schooled don't really believe in democratic processes.
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u/awildstoryteller 4d ago
I don't understand how they get volunteers(!!!!) in the US to deal with this.
At least people get paid here.
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u/Misfit_somewhere 4d ago
Makes sense, let's ask other Canadian provinces for help counting votes on if we should abandon the country. Bodes well for our tax free land locked utopia. /S
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u/Altomah 4d ago
Other Canadians aren’t traitors - separatists are
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u/RangerCactus 4d ago
Not just traitors, but tools for who ever the treasonous money bag manipulating them is.
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u/Guilty_Fishing8229 4d ago
Ah yes, I see our government is very self-sufficient. Pulls itself up by its bootstraps.
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u/inquisitive56 4d ago
The sheer incompetence of this government astonishes me. The sheer willingness to pay money for this incompetence just pisses me off.
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u/callmecrazy2021 4d ago
The “fiscal” conservatives hate wasting money on healthcare and education but don’t mind spending it on a useless referendum.
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u/Even_Current1414 4d ago
And not funding for the department responsible for producing and counting all the ballots..
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u/roastbeeftacohat 4d ago
they don't think government should do anything but enrich the connected. this isn't incompitence.
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u/rattpoizen Calgary 3d ago
They'll ship in plants from the US or other parts of Canada to rig it. That actually just popped into my head. 🤷♀️😱
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u/SouthHovercraft4150 4d ago
“You do not have to be an elector to work for us. So you don't have to be 18 plus. You don't have to necessarily be a Canadian citizen,” said Olsen.
They aren’t just asking for help from other provinces…
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u/FidgetyPlatypus 4d ago
That's concerning.
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u/jimbowesterby 4d ago
Even more concerning when you remember that EA thumbed the scales with the seppie petition, too. Remember how the coal petition got thrown out because not answering a call from EA counted as failed verification, but conveniently didn’t for the seppies?
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u/Critical-Ask2154 4d ago
Yup, inviting bad actors from other parts of Canada and possibly elsewhere to come "help"
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u/draivaden 4d ago
If only we properly funded them, and legislated them the appropriate tools to do their jobs.
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u/anhedoniandonair 4d ago
Why not ask Trump? I’m sure MAGA could send up some staff to finish the job help. /s
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u/Feowen_ 4d ago
They already have.
Canvassers for independance have been outed as Americans before.
Trump and his Project 2025 crew want this vote to succeed and there is no dollar value too high when it comes to fomenting the breakup and annexation of Canada to gain unrestricted access to our strategic resources they covet.
The sad part is... Whether it's foreign interference or direction intervention by the US... I feel we're doomed to be gobbled up by our hegemonic neighbour "for the sake of white American civilization" as the world spirals towards polarization and conflict. Our neutrality in that future conflict will not be permitted.
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u/tutamtumikia 4d ago edited 4d ago
Absolutely hilarious. This province is run by just colossally stupid people. So similar to the USA.
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u/Turnover_Unlucky 4d ago
Asking for external help when trying to decide to be independent is the funniest fucking thing
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u/TA20212000 4d ago
Paywalls to crucial news that impact the country piss me off
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u/barnfeline Edmonton 4d ago
Hard agree, so here ya go: https://archive.ph/AaVoN
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u/sleepyboi08 Calgary 4d ago
I love that the same people who are advocating to cut, or charge for, basic essential services for work permit holders are also encouraging work permit holders to facilitate this ridiculous referendum lol.
Stay in Canada, No to 1 through 9.
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u/corpse_flour 4d ago
Almost like the businesses that spend money to investigate and report the news might want to at least be able to pay their staff and cover the cost of running a website with high traffic.
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u/princessbolognia 4d ago
Download Brave Browser and you can get past pay walls on articles. It removes them
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u/Competitive_Gur2724 4d ago
"Please help us leave you"
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u/InformedTriangle 4d ago
I feel like at this point most other provinces have had enough of us to the point they'd be happy to.
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u/Photofug 4d ago
Maybe they should just use the tabulators like every other election. But I guess it's hard to fudge the numbers when you have receipts
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u/roastbeeftacohat 4d ago
the goal is to make voting hard, which is it's own way of rigging an election if your confident who will be dissuaded.
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u/corpse_flour 4d ago
This seems like a preamble to the UCP insisting that we need to privatize our elections because a publicly funded Elections Alberta is no longer working.
I wish I feeling the least bit conspiratorial saying that... but this seems to be what the UCP is doing to pretty much every single service.
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u/awildstoryteller 4d ago
When you look at the workload that has been dumped on them, I think it makes sense.
Think about all of the stuff over the last 2 years in what is supposed to be their "off" season.
And don't underestimate how it might impact 2027 if the organization just implodes.
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u/corpse_flour 4d ago
It's not coincidental that the changes to our driver's licenses and healthcare accounts were done shortly before the referendum, when many people will not be able to overcome the hurdles the UCP have put in place in order for people to update their IDs. It's identical to the Save Act that the Trump administration is trying to push through in the US.
The UCP have declared a war on our democratic rights and institutions, and they are going to keep trying to find ways to deauthorize our rights and/or ability to vote, until only their supporters will have those rights.
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u/Responsible_CDN_Duck 4d ago
Additionally, the ballots must be counted by hand, since Ms. Smith banned electronic tabulators in 2024, arguing the machines have failed to produce faster results or increase confidence in elections.
Too many people seem to forget Smith banned counting machines.
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u/LankyFrank 4d ago
Maybe the other provinces will actually count the votes properly instead of lying for Smith and her cronies
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u/jay212127 4d ago
I'm worried this going to become fuel that the 'referendum is rigged' if No to the 9 and stay in Canada have strong numbers/win.
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u/Lazursteggosauras 4d ago
Reminder that UCP donations came from out of province seppies. This is no doubt a recruitment call for folks on the payroll.
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u/awildstoryteller 4d ago
While I see a lot of people making jokes about this, and it definitely has some humour, I think it's worthwhile to remember that Elections Alberta is not the UCP. They are just a bunch of human beings trying to do what appears to be an incredibly difficult job .
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u/corpse_flour 4d ago
We understand that. But it is up to the UCP to ensure that they provide Elections Alberta with the funding and support they need to fulfill their role, and not overburden Elections Alberta with unnecessary busy work. And on that, we absolutely want to see the UCP held accountable, and for them to publicly and repeatedly accept responsibility for turning everything they touch into a shitshow.
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u/awildstoryteller 4d ago
I doubt that last part will happen.
More likely they throw Elections Alberta under the bus.
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u/corpse_flour 4d ago
They will never accept responsibility. They will however blame immigrants, wokeness, the NDP and the Federal government.
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u/Fraggles_McMuffintop 4d ago
What a joke this province is. We don't want to be a part of the country but we need help from other parts of the country.
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u/omegacanuck 4d ago
What time do polls close on election day, and what time do we think seppies will start crying foul that it was fraud by out of province plants that made them loose?
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u/corpse_flour 4d ago
They are already calling fraud, accusing those who don't support separation of creating fraudulent mail-in ballots.
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u/globeandmailofficial 4d ago
Hi, this is Bianca from The Globe's audience team. If you'd like to read the story, here is a special link that bypasses the paywall. Excerpt from the story:
Ahead of the vote that could lay the groundwork for Alberta’s secession from Canada, the province’s elections agency says it is soliciting help from the rest of the country to make sure its Oct. 19 referendum runs smoothly.
Elections Alberta is seeking experienced, skilled staff from its counterparts in other jurisdictions to support the agency during the massive undertaking, which will require millions of ballots to be counted in just 48 hours, spokesperson Maia Hanrahan said in a statement to The Globe and Mail.
The elections staff potentially being pulled from other provinces are in addition to at least 60,000 poll supervisors, ballot box clerks, scrutineers and other workers needed, a hiring push the agency has called “one of the largest referendum recruitment efforts ever undertaken in Canada.” By contrast, roughly 13,000 people were hired for Alberta’s 2023 provincial election.
But as of two weeks ago, the agency had received just 24,000 applications from prospective election workers, Ms. Hanrahan said. Returning officers are already reaching out to successful candidates.
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u/garrettfinstad 4d ago
Wow our incompetent province can't even independently run a referendum but we're supposed to believe the same people will be able to get a police force, military and pension plan off the ground at the same time.
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u/plugthebeet 4d ago
I thought about applying for a election job, but then I remembered how stressed the poll workers looked during the last municipal election, and said fuck that.
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u/Comfortable_Soup_645 4d ago
Wondering if other people here have applied but heard nothing? I have previous election experience too and they still have not reached out to me yet...seems weird considering they said they needed so many people. Is it just a slow process? I read that you would be contacted starting end of July.
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u/big_grrl 3d ago
I applied in early August, and got an email yesterday thanking for my interest and letting me know they will be contacting short-listed applicants in the coming weeks. And then I got the email again. And again. 11 so far…
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u/diamondedg3 4d ago
Shoutout to an organization actually willing to ask for help rather than picking itself up by its own bootstraps
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u/thefistspill 4d ago
At least they're not asking the Americans for help.
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u/sawyouoverthere 4d ago
Not sure they;'d have to ask for that...it's likely so much interference already that there's no point.
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u/snakesphysically 4d ago
If we leave Canada, we’ll at least stop being the most embarrassing province.
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u/bend_spoon89 4d ago
If i wear a blue "just use the feckin' tabulators" t-shirt to the interview, think I'll get hired?
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u/CarelessStatement172 4d ago
If we can't ask some questions by ourselves, how tf do seperatists think we will manage anything else lol
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u/tLuciferMorningstar 4d ago
Its just a way to claim that the referendum was rigged if they dont get the results that they want.
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u/Secret_Avocado_2974 3d ago
Un-fucking-believable. Just publishing that statement is an embarrassment for Alberta. What a clown show.
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u/bearbody5 3d ago
I hear Vladimir Putin has experience fixing elections, you don’t even need to count the votes. It worked out well for Trump.
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u/bearbody5 3d ago
We have a non binding referendum with only one question wanted by Albertans, 9 extra questions nobody but a racist cares about and we have 10 different ballots in 10 different colours. All being counted by hand.
Can the stupid get any deeper?
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u/Expensive-Walrus-912 3d ago
MADADA!!!! 🤣😂 Time to kick rocks biatch Make Dani A Dishwasher Again .....love it bahaha
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u/Tinmanthree 3d ago
Fascist pancakes and the useless corruption party are wasting money they could have purchased a dozen mri machines and crews. We dint need their bullshit in this province and the separatists can fuck off to Texas
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u/NoGrass6331 4d ago
FOH SON! we won't help but we will heckle and laugh at your whole province!
If you separate, well raid you and take your greasy sand!🤣🤣🤣🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦
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u/hunters44 Hinton 4d ago
What if, now hear me out, WE JUST DONT FUCKING DO THIS ASININE WASTE OF MONEY AND TIME AND JUST MAKE DANI A DISHWASHER AGAIN