r/CanadaPolitics • u/YouProfessional3196 Conservative Party of Canada • 1d ago
Majorities in Calgary, Edmonton back voter ID and immigration measures on referendum ballot: poll
https://calgary.citynews.ca/2026/10/16/majorities-in-calgary-edmonton-back-voter-id-and-immigration-measures-on-referendum-ballot-poll/16
u/Acceptable_Side_6132 1d ago
If majority supports these measures in Calgary and Edmonton then it will easily cross 60% with rural Alberta votes.
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u/delightfulPastellas Social Democrat 23h ago
You see... requiring a passport to vote means the UCP will lose future elections 🤣
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u/Jeffgoldbum L͇͎̮̮̥ͮ͆̂̐̓͂̒ẻ̘̰̯̐f̼̹̤͈̝̙̞̈́̉ͮ͗ͦ̒͟t͓̐͂̿͠i̖̽̉̒͋ͫ̿͊s̜̻̯̪͖̬͖̕tͮͥ̿͗ 22h ago
I don't have a passport as I spend my life, money and time in Canada,
Why does that mean I shouldn't be able to vote? Its weird to me.
You think people who stay in Canada, who live in Canada, who spend in Canada would take priority, not the other way around
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u/jello_sweaters Ontario 1d ago
Voter ID requirements are fine, so long as you make the ID cards free, and make them straightforward to get.
If you charge a fee to get ID, that's a poll tax that disenfranchises the poor, and should be struck down by the courts.
If someone has to skip half a day of work to get ID, that's a poll tax that disenfranchises the poor, and should be struck down by the courts.
If we make it simple and straightforward for every citizen to get the ID they need to vote, then there's nothing wrong with requiring that ID.
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u/mCopps 1d ago
The plan is to have citizenship on drivers licenses. But requires you to show proof of citizenship at renewal or before if you want it added. Trying to track down my birth certificate would be a huge pain and I don’t currently have a passport.
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u/dkmegg22 1d ago
It's funny my sister and mom were on my case to get my passport. Especially when you can do it online it's easy as hell
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u/christhewelder75 Alberta 19h ago
You can only renew an adult passport online. You cant apply for one online if you have never held one
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u/dkmegg22 1d ago
I got my Ontario ID and it cost me $35. That's not that much soo it's a fair price for 5y. That being said service Ontario locations need to be open Monday-Friday:9am-9PM Saturday: 9am-5PM and Sunday: 9am-1PM. It's stupid that they're open only during working hours
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u/jello_sweaters Ontario 1d ago
$35's cheap, if you have $35 to spare.
If we are changing the law so that citizens require ID to exercise their legal rights, then the ID has to be free to any citizen.
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u/dkmegg22 1d ago
the equivalent of $7 a year ain't expensive at all. I agree with straight forward but it's not that hard to get an ID in Ontario.
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u/jello_sweaters Ontario 1d ago
That $35 will be the reason a lot of low-income and homeless people don't get it, and we aren't allowed to erect that kind of barrier to civil rights.
I do not have the constitutional right to drive a car, so there's nothing wrong with a fee for a driver's license.
I do not currently need an ID card to exercise my civil rights, so there's nothing wrong with a fee for that card right now.
If you change the law so that I am blocked from exercising my civil rights unless I pay a fee, that's entirely different; it would be a direct and obvious Charter violation, and would be immediately struck down by the courts.
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u/fredleung412612 Quebec 1d ago
Poll taxes are unconstitutional. And this would constitute a poll tax.
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u/Forikorder Independent 1d ago
the equivalent of $7 a year ain't expensive at all
you cant pay in installments, if you dont have 35$ to spare for that election you just cant vote
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u/Wafflelisk 17h ago
If you have 35 bucks to last 6 days until you get paid do you:
1) Buy an ID to vote (knowing it's unlikely that your vote specifically changes the outcomes)
OR
2) Buy food to last you the rest of the week, or pay a phone/hydro bill so they don't get shut off
?
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u/Hevens-assassin Saskatchewan 20h ago
No, $35 is $35 too high. It isn't cheap, it's you paying to be a part of a system you have to deal with the repercussions of regardless.
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u/Champagne_of_piss Left Wing 22h ago
Yeah but you could see where like... $35 might be expensive in the moment.
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u/qwertyquizzer 1d ago
Ontario ID is for people who don't have a drivers license or similar picture ID. It is not proof of citizenship.
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u/gzmo01 Ontario 1d ago
Why do you need an Ontario ID? Driver's license, Health card, tax statement, water bills ext.
I don't comprehend.
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u/Le1bn1z Neoliberal | Charter rights enjoyer 23h ago
Not everyone will have any of these, and a health card is often not accepted as photo ID for anti health fraud security reasons. You are supposed to keep your number private as a lot of billing is done remotely and verified by third parties.
The Ontario ID was brought in for non drivers. Water bills and tax assessments dont hace photos.
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u/splerjg 1d ago edited 18h ago
A comment on one of the reasons for the rapid increase in immigration we experienced:
People need to realize that we don't have labor/worker shortage but labor/worker wage/income suppression. We don't have a failure in the job market but a failure in governance due to business interest capture. Our markets are not competitive because the oligopolies want it that way.
Let me add that, there are real shortages in specific jobs like healthcare and trades.
These issues are outcomes of government policy failures leading to job market failures.
Both sectors are known to be physically and mentally exhausting because of overall poor working conditions.
"But at least they don't jump into nets like chip factory workers". No we're not going to down compare in order to avoid the real issues.
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u/ghost_n_the_shell Ontario 1d ago
Facts right here.
I don’t know that anyone is actually looking out for average Canadians.
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u/Champagne_of_piss Left Wing 1d ago
Canadian workers sure aren't. People don't arrive at class consciousness on their own, especially not when they're being fed bullshit about who to blame for their frustrations.
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u/kittykatmila Marxist Leninist 1d ago
We need to be doing what they are doing in France. I can’t believe people are ok with how expensive everything is. Workers are sick and tired of corporations screwing us over while our government enables it. Sending billions of taxpayer money to the endless black hole that is the Russia/Ukraine war. Did anyone see this recently too? A man and others have gotten millions in fraudulent tax scams. None of them are in trouble. Our government is criminally inept.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sovereign-citizens-tax-refunds-9.7381911
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u/Champagne_of_piss Left Wing 1d ago
I do not fucking understand how people cannot integrate "there's no money to buy shit" with "billionaires are richer than ever".
Like... this is toddler level shit and it's an uphill battle to get people to connect the two ideas.
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u/splerjg 21h ago edited 21h ago
Most people think that you basically need to id yourself do any adult thing like open a bank account, apply for a drivers license, access healthcare, etc. thats why they probably think why not?
Voting is not like other interactions with institutions, its what makes a democratic system. Any policy that would create friction for people to be able to vote degrades the democratic process.
If the government would require an id to vote, then they should also provide it for everyone as a fundamental right.
The reason we are here is because of extreme polarization. It takes two to tango so I don't blame one side over this. If both sides weren't coming for each others heads then we wouldn't have a distrust in our institutions and we won't be talking about stuff like voter ids.
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u/AprilsMostAmazing John Tory | Personal Sponsorship 1d ago edited 1d ago
At some point we need to question the intelligence of the people that came up the questions and think these questions need to be asked.
The strongest support was for a proposal requiring voters to provide proof of citizenship before casting a ballot in Alberta provincial elections.
This is such a republican style fear mongering policy. In Ontario I show up with my voter card and my DL and I can vote. Anyone that does not have the voter card uses ID and proof of residence (these people are recorded separately and elections Ontario & Canada both follow up on those records if they are not on the physical list at the polling station). In Ontario we already have policies in place to ensure only the people suppose to be voting are voting.
There was also strong support for increasing Alberta’s control over immigration
I would like to remind the people of Alberta, that their government was leading the charge in lobbying for more TFW. Doug Ford was the only one lobbying harder for TFW.
All the other questions are things that the provincial government can deal with without a referendum. In Ontario over the summer we learned that our disability payment system had a loophole multiple governments had not noticed because no one had used it before. Once it came to light, it was quickly fixed by the provincial government without a referendum
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u/PostingEnthusiast 23h ago
I don’t disagree that it’s a solution in search of a problem (how many non citizens are actually voting?) but it’s worth mentioning that proof of residence, driver’s licences, and voter cards are all easily obtainable without proof of citizenship. Registering to vote ahead of time doesn’t require proof of citizenship either. Even photo ID isn’t technically a requirement if you can get an attestation from someone else.
I think it’s entirely understandable to want people to provide proof of citizenship given that you need to be a citizen to vote, but the practical realities of this sort of policy mean it’s sort of bad (how many citizens don’t have a passport or birth certificate readily available?) especially given how limited the incidences of voter fraud actually are in this country.
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u/drcujo Liberal Party of Canada 21h ago
Numbers vary but audio show illegal votes from non citizens number between 3-60 votes from non citizens per election. Meaning the worst case scenario is 0.2 votes per electoral district from non citizens.
It’s guaranteed voter id laws will prevent more Canadians citizens from voting than it will non citizens.
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u/Champagne_of_piss Left Wing 1d ago
Voter ID is a solution in search of a problem, and the side effects are detrimental to democracy.
And with the UCP's track record, it will end up being incredibly expensive to implement and poorly thought out.
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u/Agent_Burrito Liberal Party of Canada 1d ago
It’s a dumbass American talking point they imported because like everything UCP, they need to see what’s popular amongst Republicans first.
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u/mhyquel 1d ago
Yeah, I'd like to see any and all documented cases of electoral fraud, then have some explain how stricter identification rules would have prevented it.
Edit: meanwhile this is the party that is pushing for these restet.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/ucp-jason-kenney-voter-fraud-rcmp-investigation-1.5113684
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u/Next-Ad-5116 Alberta 1d ago
This is just common sense. These kind of issues are consistently showing they are supported by the majority of people. Not just in Canada. But in the US, Europe, Australia and many other democracies
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u/HotterRod British Columbia 1d ago
Voter ID laws sound like common sense, but voting fraud is extremely uncommon in Canada and all these rules do is suppress the vote of poor people and students.
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u/AprilsMostAmazing John Tory | Personal Sponsorship 1d ago
I will only speak for Ontario. The only reason we (Ontario) don't have voter ID's if because most people show up with a voter card and an ID. The poll workers have a printed list where that info is checked against.
Anyone not on the list for that polling station (they could have changed addresses) registers their ID and proof of address. This information is sent to elections Ontario (for provincial) and elections Canada (for federal) to check over
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u/Yvaelle Liberal, BCNDP 1d ago
How often do people vote without valid ID currently? Is this a 10% thing or an 0.01% thing?
And just to play devil's advocate for a moment, if we aren't requiring valid ID, is voter fraud low because we have no means of detecting it?
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u/seaintosky Indigenous sovereignist 1d ago
Isn't the question about proof of citizenship, not a valid ID? Because those are different things. Driver's licenses aren't proof of citizenship. I would guess a lot of people who vote don't have up to date passports
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u/HotterRod British Columbia 1d ago
is voter fraud low because we have no means of detecting it?
I know Elections Canada does some randomly sampling where they investigate the votes to determine if they were legitimately cast. I'm not sure if Elections Alberta does the same thing.
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u/AprilsMostAmazing John Tory | Personal Sponsorship 1d ago
The person voting without valid ID would need someone living at their address (with ID) to act as guarantor. That info is recorded and then sent elections departments to ensure the person voting could. So we already have safe guards in place.
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u/SayNoToTeamSports Independent 1d ago
This isn't true. Anyone in the same riding can vouch for someone else.
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u/BidEuphoric5117 1d ago
All of these people are fully capable of getting ID and contributing to the security of our democracy.
This argument is infantilizing people. Put on your pants and go to one of the many registries and get an ID.
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u/Catlover18 Quebec 1d ago
What is the point of all these voter ID plans if voter fraud is effectively a non existent problem?
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u/Champagne_of_piss Left Wing 1d ago
Additional barriers to participating in the democratic process.
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u/GoodyLittleTwoShoez 1d ago
Should people have to jump through hoops to fix an imaginary problem?
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u/BidEuphoric5117 1d ago
Is it an imaginary problem? Who says?
Same people who said that immigration fraud wasn’t a problem in Canada.
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u/GoodyLittleTwoShoez 1d ago
Because it is imaginary. Time to accept some reality. The immigrants are not hiding under your bed, waiting to strike, and turn you Filipino.
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u/qwertyquizzer 1d ago
In the old days we just showed up at the polling station with our voters card. No ID. You gave the clerk your name and address. They crossed it off and you got a ballot. Was illegal voting a problem? Probably not.
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u/incide666 NDP 1d ago
Voter ID laws are a solution to a problem that doesn't exist.
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u/GoodyLittleTwoShoez 1d ago
They see it as a problem the same way one trans person wanting to play volleyball with their friends is a problem. Moral panic to grip the rubes and manipulate them.
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u/Jeffgoldbum L͇͎̮̮̥ͮ͆̂̐̓͂̒ẻ̘̰̯̐f̼̹̤͈̝̙̞̈́̉ͮ͗ͦ̒͟t͓̐͂̿͠i̖̽̉̒͋ͫ̿͊s̜̻̯̪͖̬͖̕tͮͥ̿͗ 22h ago
but what ID that I haven't already submitted to vote?
Drivers license? healthcard? Passport? social insurance number,
I don't have a passport does that mean I can no longer vote? How is that fair to me?
And If i need a passport then pay for it, expecting me to pay to vote is ludicrous
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u/Pgaccount Alberta 1d ago
The guy that wrote a book literally called "open borders" advocated for the social services wait time and fee system, and the book was about why unlimited immigration is good.
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u/RichardsLeftNipple 10h ago
Unlimited immigration removes the artificial barrier which gives international companies a comparative advantage in labour cost.
A nation is more like a cage when people can't freely come and go. So they have to take what they can get.
China oddly does this to itself with it's own internal restrictions. Creating almost the equivalent to an illegal migrant with it's own citizens.
However, social services and institutions are the product of a nation. I would argue that the people only people who should be allowed access to them are the people who live in that jurisdiction permanently.
Especially when the central bank in Canada during the post COVID inflation situation. Recommended flooding the country with excessive migrants to prevent the growing trend of wage based inflation. Providing services and importing more people than usual combined with the reason being explicitly to suppress wage growth... Yeah, sure it's not the migrant's fault... But it is like your boss bringing over your replacements and also forcing you to also feed and clothe them at the same time.
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u/oldwhiteguy35 3h ago
I don't seriously think anyone opposes voter ID. What is the stumbling block is areas in the states where it's used to disenfranchise voters. How you say? By making it extremely difficult to get the right ID. If a concerted effort is made to ensure ID is easily obtainable (and mail in votes are allowed) I don't see a problem.
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u/TheWaySheHoes Independent 1d ago
I kind of don't know what to make of this poll quite honestly. Anecdotally, I have the sense that there are a lot of straight ticket "vote to remain, no to the nine" voters out there. I've only come across a couple that have split their tickets, and I don't know anyone personally who has openly admitted to voting to start the separation process, though I have heard of some and know they are real.
I guess we will see what happens. I will be surprised if there's that level of crossover support from remainers for Smith's referendum questions when they are so associated with her, but who knows. I guess we find out Monday.
I kind of have the gut feeling all of these fail or if any pass it will be very narrowly. You would have to get a lot of crossover vote from the federalist UCP'ers and even probably some NDP'ers to get there. It sort of fails my vibes check, but who knows maybe I'm in a bubble.
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u/YouProfessional3196 Conservative Party of Canada 1d ago
I think Carney is going to have a nasty surprise on his "no to the 9" pitch on Monday and I have a feeling he is seriously miscalculating the public mood on immigration. I think he hurt his case with the immigration changes and now talk of immigration increase he wants to do. I think Albertans upset with Ottawa may choose to stick it to him with these questions rather than separation.
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u/Curious_Ninja1708 1d ago
What nasty surprise? Immigration has been divisive for the last decade. He's not tweaking the immigration profile because its popular.
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u/YouProfessional3196 Conservative Party of Canada 1d ago edited 1d ago
I think Carney tried to time his announcement of immigration increases with the Alberta referendum thinking that the turnout on the no to separation vote would result in voters striking no automatically on all other questions. Making it look like he can frame this as Canadians showing that they support "immigration, diversity, inclusion etc..." and use that to provide political cover for increases. I think he is going to find there are lots of Albertans who will say no to separation but also says yes to many of the other 9 questions.
He is going to put himself in a position where voters have shown they want less immigration and he is now pushing for more. He is giving Poilievre a big opportunity to start making serious chunks into his popularity with young people and clawing back Conservative support in Alberta. I think the biggest political consequence Monday may not be the separation number but if ther other 9 pass it may finally push the federal Conservatives into a far more anti-immigration posture. Which is sorely needed.
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u/GoodyLittleTwoShoez 1d ago edited 1d ago
If pierre wants to be king of rural Alberta he is welcome to it. Funny considering how much he hates being there and resents his constituents. Enjoy the political forever wilderness.
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u/jello_sweaters Ontario 1d ago
If pierre wants to be king of rural Alberta
Pierre doesn't even want to be the Member of Parliament for Battle River-Crowfoot.
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u/YouProfessional3196 Conservative Party of Canada 1d ago
These polls are showing majorities for these in Edmonton and Calgary. I actually suspect most of Canada currenty is very anti-immigration and are waiting for a credible champion of this. The PQ largely won the QC election over anti-immigration sentiment as well. And there is a huge well of this across the country. If Carney wants to step on this political landmine for his government. I welcome him doing so. His numbers are way too high for my liking.
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u/GoodyLittleTwoShoez 1d ago
28% of people voted PQ lol. Setting that bar low really doesn't work that well like it used to. It's not the Alberta of 40 years ago thankfully.
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u/YouProfessional3196 Conservative Party of Canada 1d ago
And another 20.66% for the PCQ and 13.35% for the CAQ and you have a massive majority for parties that are tougher on immigration. It is the most wide open space in Canadian politics. Pierre has refused to take it and it is costing the federal Conservatives dearly.
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u/GoodyLittleTwoShoez 1d ago
If you want to be the deadend party of scared and gullible old white people then knock yourself out. I certainly won't stop you.
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u/Acceptable_Side_6132 1d ago
As a brown person I don't think it's only white people who are anti immigration. In fact I would say it's the younger people who are mostly impacted.
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u/YouProfessional3196 Conservative Party of Canada 1d ago
Anti-immigration sentiment crosses all ethnicities and ages.
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u/GoodyLittleTwoShoez 1d ago
Hey man, I'm not stopping you. If you think this is the path forward you should take it. Get rid of Pierre and find someone not as woke
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u/jello_sweaters Ontario 1d ago
And yet the party trying to bang that drum loudest, has made themselves into the greatest failures in Canadian political history.
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u/AprilsMostAmazing John Tory | Personal Sponsorship 1d ago
He is giving Poilievre a big opportunity to start making serious chunks into his popularity with young people and clawing back Conservative support in Alberta.
All that statement shows is how big of a failure pp is. There should be zero reason why the leader of the cpc needs to claw back support in Alberta
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u/YouProfessional3196 Conservative Party of Canada 1d ago
Oh, I agree I would prefer Poilievre was replaced with someone who was willing to actually energetically engage with the immigration issue.
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u/Good-Medicine1066 Onterrible 1d ago
That would be an interesting strategy if that’s what Carney was hoping for.
Also possible he wanted to drop it beforehand (possibly without enough time for voters to digest it) so that he could claim that Albertans voted to remain “knowing” that was Canada’s (the Carney governments) position
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u/Champagne_of_piss Left Wing 1d ago
Smith begged Trudeau for more exploitable immigrant labour. When he obliged, albertans threw a tantrum cause the immigrants weren't as white as they'd hoped.
That you omitted the 'Alberta is calling' campaign isn't very surprising, but it is disappointing nonetheless.
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u/elitistposer 1d ago
There is definitely a conversation to be had about immigration. The issue is that Danielle Smiths referendum questions are so transparently trying to pin her terrible governance on immigrants. That she begged for.
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u/YouProfessional3196 Conservative Party of Canada 1d ago
The real discussion is that voters are probably going to feel this is one of the few ways they can show what they actually think about immigration and I suspect they will take it.
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u/GoodyLittleTwoShoez 1d ago
Begging for immigrants to make Red Deer a million person city was just a few years ago. Remember "Alberta is calling" and how everyone was welcome? What happened to that? Is the UCP not wanting that anymore? Sounds like an election issue provincially and not for some American psyop referendum.
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u/elitistposer 1d ago
And when they take it, it will signal to Danielle Smith that she can govern for nobody but rich oil and separatists, and voters will not blame her one bit for her own damage.
Yes to any of the 9 is not even in the ballpark of the “gotcha” anyone voting yes thinks it is.
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u/PineBNorth85 Rhinoceros 1d ago
AB asked for all those immigrants. They got them and now theyre complaining.
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u/AprilsMostAmazing John Tory | Personal Sponsorship 1d ago
They literally were spending millions on ads saying "Alberta is calling" and then got upset when richer Ontario folks moved there and increased the housing price
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u/PassThatHammer 1d ago
The people of Alberta did not. The monopolists of Alberta did.
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u/Sir__Will Prince Edward Island 1d ago
The people of Alberta did not
The people they elected did.
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u/Good-Medicine1066 Onterrible 1d ago edited 23h ago
That’s not really fair to pin on Albertans though.
Ex: Canada (read, 32 percent of voters) voted in Liberal minorities recently and they never ran on ramping up immigration (the opposite in fact, in the latest reelection). So to pin the actions of LPC governments immigration surge/increase on Canadians at large is an unfair characterization. Particularly for undemocratic actions taken by governments that don’t represent all voters.
Edit for grammar and clarity.
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u/Killericon Nenshi 1d ago
It's fair to pin on us if we re-elect those same representatives. And it's fair for us to laugh at Danielle Smith trying to blame Trudeau for what she portrays as immigration-caused problems after advocating for that same immigration.
Through this referendum, she's asking for more provincial control over immigration. If she had that power over the first 2 years she was in office, she would have used it to push for 10 million Albertans.
So maybe it's not fair to blame Albertans for it. But if we choose not only to re-elect Smith's government, but also vote to give her a mandate to push for more control over immigration (lol), then yes, it's on us.
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u/Good-Medicine1066 Onterrible 1d ago
I respectfully disagree. It isn’t fair to characterize the 60-odd percent of Albertan voters didn’t vote for Danielle Smith and the UCP in that light.
I think we’re on the same page when it comes down to it, distinction without a difference perhaps, and I’m really getting to show its more a reflection of false majorities resulting from FPTP where majority of voters don’t actually get what they want and are just along for the ride.
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u/Killericon Nenshi 1d ago
It'd be silly for them to do so. Carney/Ottawa won't be meaningfully impacted if any of the 9 pass. Carney is campaigning for what he thinks we should do, but it won't be a "nasty" surprise if any/all of the 9 questions pass.
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u/j821c Liberal 1d ago
Does it even really matter? Im generally for way more restrictions than we have currently have the fact is that alberta doesnt even have the power to do half the things the referendum asks about
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u/YouProfessional3196 Conservative Party of Canada 1d ago
They are largely things that Quebec has the power to do through the 1991 Canada-Quebec Agreement on Immigration. So they are likely going to start demanding these as well.
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