Albertans split in early returns on remaining 9 referendum questions

While Albertans roundly rejected separation in Monday’s referendum, earlier results remain decidedly closer on the other nine questions that were put to Albertans as counting continues.

Votes were still being tallied as of Tuesday afternoon, but the yes vote was leading on eight of the nine referendum questions, including all five on immigration-related proposals.

Those questions asked whether Alberta should have more say on who comes to the province to work and whether it’s time to put more limitations — and perhaps introduce fees — on temporary workers who seek access to health care and education.

The remaining four questions saw Premier Danielle Smith ask for Albertan’s blessing to lobby her provincial counterparts for support on amending the Constitution to take more power from Ottawa and abolish the Senate.

The yes side was leading on the immigration questions with roughly 54 to 58 per cent of the votes as of Tuesday afternoon. One exception is Smith’s proposal to require proof of citizenship to vote provincially, which was leading with about two-thirds of the vote.

Elections Alberta said it expects all ballots to be counted by Wednesday.

Smith has said she needs a yes to the nine questions so she can bargain with Prime Minister Mark Carney. She was set to give a TV address to Albertans later Tuesday on the results and on what’s next.

Carney told reporters in Ottawa that the federal government will “take into account” the votes on the nine questions but cautioned that constitutional change can be a “difficult” and drawn-out process.

Critics have called the questions anti-immigrant dog-whistling, and some, including Opposition NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi, say the results are shaping up to be an underwhelming mandate for the premier.

“If she wanted a mandate, she should have been able to get 85 per cent on questions like this, and she was unable to carry the day,” Nenshi told reporters. He said Smith needs to stop scapegoating immigrants and “be a premier for all Albertans.”

Colin Aitchison, a former United Conservative Party press secretary turned government relations consultant, said the result was a clear mandate for the premier.

“Governments get elected on less than 50 per cent in this country, and then they move forward with implementing a mandate,” said Aitchison, a managing director with Enterprise Canada.

Smith has said immigration is beneficial to Alberta but that it must be balanced with the high cost of social services. Her government has yet to give specifics on how the proposals would work or how they would be implemented.

Avnish Nanda, a lawyer who had campaigned against the immigration proposals, said he was shocked by the results, as he was expecting the questions to pass with much larger margins.

“We thought we would be blown out,” Nanda said in an interview.

Nanda said he didn’t think the results represent the will of Albertans. He pointed to polls that suggest some voters were confused by the wording of the questions. He said they may have also been misled by the government advertising campaign.

Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas said he was proud to see a majority of voters in his city reject the immigration proposals, saying it affirms Calgary as a welcoming place for newcomers.

Farkas also said Ottawa was already acting to address immigration concerns. “That, to me, kind of leads me to ask, ‘What was the point of this whole exercise to begin with?'” Farkas said.

Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack also called for Smith to ditch the immigration questions.

“I don’t want our neighbours to feel like they’re not welcome in our city,” Knack said late Monday as results started to roll in.

The constitutional questions are shaping up to be a tighter race, with results as of Tuesday afternoon showing the yes option leading on three of the four questions by razor-thin margins.