Andrew Robert Francis

Lorne Gunter (yes, that Lorne Gunter, probably the most reliably conservative mainstream columnist in the province) says the UCP's rejection of the Electoral Boundaries Commission electoral map "slap(s) democracy in the face." edmontonsun.com/opinion/column…

Possible changes to Alberta’s electoral map put democracy at risk, Rachel Notley @RachelNotley writes theglobeandmail.com/opinion/articl… Find out more at nationalnewswatch.com

We’ve gotten to the point at the legislature where we’re not allowed to ask the government if the point of their plan to gerrymander is to cheat? We can’t say lie. We can’t say cheat. UCP are sensitive to those particular words because they lie and cheat. 😳 #ableg #cheaters

NEWS: MLA Renaud calls UCP plan to redraw electoral boundaries "bold faced cheating" dlvr.it/TS6pgq

@WBrettWilson @GregClarkAB @nenshi Greg is literally confirming what Nenshi is concerned about. I think you should probably re-read his thread.

PLS read this comprehensive overview of provincial Election Boundaries by the very thoughtful and independent @GregClarkAB Park the @Nenshi noise. And get on with your life. Maybe show support for adolescent mental health causes. Or responsible development of our natural resources. A better use of all of our time.

@ADogNamedFitzy @albertaNDP There's already ~38 fully rural ridings. Why should the cities be watered down?

@albertaNDP Why should ridings be all urban? Wouldn’t that concentrate the UCP vote to the rural areas?

The black line marks city boundaries. The red lines show how the UCP aims to weaken your vote by gerrymandering Calgary, Edmonton, Lethbridge, and Red Deer into pieces to rig the election. We can't let Danielle Smith get away with it.

"The story behind the painting 'The Grief of the Pasha'" In 1882, the French painter Jean-Léon Gérôme was invited to illustrate Victor Hugo's poem, 'La Douleur du Pacha' (The Grief of the Pasha). The poem's final line is a single sentence: 'His Nubian tiger died.' Three years later, this single line was brought to life on canvas. In the painting, pink flowers lie at the tiger's head, and two large green candles burn. This majestic tiger rests on an Oriental rug with blue and navy motifs that covers the floor. The Pasha, dressed in red velvet and wearing a green turban, sits in the right corner, holding prayer beads in one hand and resting his cheek against the other. A domed brass incense burner sits right beside his knee. According to Dr. Taylor J. Acosta, a curator at the Joslyn Art Museum (Nebraska, USA), the candlestick on the left is in the Safavid style, while the one on the right is Ottoman. In a single painting, objects from two distinct Islamic art traditions stand side by side. The architecture in the background is drawn from the Alhambra Palace (Granada, Spain), which Gérôme visited in 1873. The slender columns, carved stucco, the fountain in the background, and the bands of Arabic script were taken directly from there. The tiger in the painting, however, isn't Ottoman, but rather a Bengal tiger native to the Indian subcontinent. Gérôme chose to correct the poem's geographical error by painting this species, as he was familiar with its anatomy; Hugo had written 'Nubian tiger' in his poem, yet tigers never lived in Nubia. The painting found a buyer before it was even finished: 30,000 francs - an exceptionally high price for 1885. It first passed to a Chicago collector, was donated to the Art Institute of Chicago in 1898, and remained there for thirty-seven years. Hugo's poem was written in 1827, during a period of Ottoman decline. According to some interpretations, this poem was an image symbolizing the fall of the Ottoman Empire. The poem's epigraph is taken from Lord Byron: 'Separated from everything dear to me, I'm wasting away, alone and desolate.' Gérôme brought this poem to canvas 58 years after it was written. The Pasha is being called to war. It's as if he has nothing left to go for. Hugo's poem lists off war, rebellion, the harem, and dreams, one by one. He rejects them all. None of these are what makes him weep. His tiger died.

Important thread

Red Deer taxes going up because of provincial budget | CTV News Red Deer for April 15, 2026 ctvnews.ca/edmonton/video…

It is not the increase from 89 to 91 that is problematic. It is this part of the motion. Throwing out the Electoral Boundaries Commission (and all of their work) and instead creating a new committee of MLAs with a new advisory panel.

2) To replace the Commission's majority report and create a committee of MLAs to determine boundaries. Without public hearings. I fear this is to impose the minority report (2 UCP appointees) to extremely gerrymander ridings in Alberta. A major blow to democracy in Alberta

it takes a certain shamelessness when the Premier's Chief of Staff lies, outright, and accuses others of that. The electoral boundaries commission has one report. That is what should be passed today. They're cheating because fair elections are kryptonite for the UCP.

There is a reason that we do not have MLAs decide on electoral boundaries. Tossing out the Electoral Boundaries Commission and replacing it with a UCP-dominated committee is not just a bad idea. It is really bad for democracy. Ask the US, ask Hungary. This is not normal!

Realized I never posted the Pollara Alberta poll

@pallasdata Are you doing Alberta again anytime soon?

23 minutes ago, our Quebec poll dropped. And now...new Ontario numbers! Ontario PC lead down to nine points. #onpoli

@BagelPolling I believe the Calgary & Edmont numbers are city proper - RoA includes both CMAs

You can immediately tell this poll is missampled because Rest of Alberta is only UCP+19. Rest of Alberta was UCP+39 in 2023.

@RealAlbanianPat @coreyhoganyyc Plugging these regionals into your simulator gives me 47-40

@coreyhoganyyc Also UCP's margin in "Other communities" decreased significantly in this poll compared to 2023 as opposed to what you claimed. The margins in Calgary is the same while UCP actually ramps out their votes in Edmonton while NDP collapses

Interesting big-sample poll from Pollara that exposes an Alberta provincial race different than conventional wisdom. In AB, if you want to govern you need to win 2/3 regions: Calgary, Edmonton, other. UCP trails in Calgary and Edmonton while running up the score elsewhere. But running up the score - winning a riding by 50 instead of 15 - won’t get the UCP more seats. This is much better than the NDP’s 2023 result in Calgary. And in 2023, the Alberta NDP would have won with 6000 more Calgary votes in the right places. As long as there isn’t a gerrymandering of the electoral map to split communities between now and when we vote, these numbers would result in an Alberta NDP government. Thats where we are - and those are the stakes of the independent electoral boundary commission’s work.

Regional numbers from Pollara with a HUGE sample size - very interesting contrast with the Leger poll. Curious to see how these regional break down

Interesting Alberta numbers from Pollara with a massive sample size

I’m ready to fight like hell for this country, and against anyone trying to tear it apart. The richest man in the world wants Canada to become the 51st state and is now amplifying Alberta separatism. So let’s ask the question: Who is funding this movement? Albertans deserve to know.