The results are in!  

Now that elected municipal governments are settling into their roles after the 2021 Municipal Election, the Alberta Government has released the numbers behind the Daylight Savings and equalization payment referendum.  

According to Election Alberta, results show 61.7 per cent of Albertans are in favour of removing the principle of equalization from the Constitution. 

“A clear majority of Albertans have sent a powerful, democratic message: They want a fair deal in the federation. These results have given Alberta’s government a powerful mandate to secure changes to equalization and other federal transfers that have treated Albertans unfairly for so long. Our message is clear: Ottawa must respect Alberta and the huge role we play in Canada’s economic prosperity, Premier Jason Kenney said during a press conference on October 26.   

While there was a majority in the case of equalization payments, it was a much closer race on the topic of daylight saving.  

49.8% of valid ballots cast voted in favour of ditching daylight savings, and 50.2% of valid ballots cast wanted the current system to stay the same.  

“Albertans have very strong opinions about daylight saving time and the results of the referendum show that, right now, Albertans prefer to continue changing their clocks,” said Nate Glubish, Minister of Service Alberta 

The next time change takes place on Nov. 7, when Alberta falls back one hour. 

Locally, the results were almost neck in neck on the topic of daylight savings. Out of 3,631 votes cast in Strathmore, 1,778 were in favour of ditching daylight savings time, and 1,713 voters wanted to keep changing their clocks. 

The results were much more one-sided on the topic of the equalization payment. Again, out of 3,631 votes, 2,522 voted in favour of stopping equalization payments to the rest of Canada, leaving the remaining 875 opposed defeated.