What could Alberta do with $134 million? That’s the question being asked in a new third-party referendum campaign that suggests the province is wasting money on a fall referendum proving to become a massive undertaking for Elections Alberta. “The goal is to show how we’re wasting a tremendous amount of money. We have choices to be made when we’re doing these types of activities. Spending this money on this type of activity is just silly,” Stephen Carter, political analyst and head of Alberta’s Voice, told CTV News Edmonton. Alberta’s Voice website suggests the money spent on a referendum could instead pay for 150 family doctors, 188 teachers, 794 educational assistants or two brand-new 900-student schools, among other things. Earlier this year, a former Elections Alberta chief officer estimated the potential cost of the Oct. 19 referendum to be around $130 million. The non-partisan office officially says, however, that “referendum costs are primarily determined by the number of questions in the referendum, the number of eligible electors in Alberta, and changes in legislation.” Still, Carter says the point of the visualization is to put the spending into palpable terms for the average Albertan. According to Elections Alberta, the last provincial election in 2023 cost around $37 million and used 1.7 million ballots. The agency is predicting 45 million ballots needed for the referendum. MacEwan University political science professor Brendan Boyd agrees the picture is compelling, but worries the third-party advertisers may be “preaching to the choir.” “(People) will say, ‘Yes, this is what we’ve been saying all along. We want the government to focus on different things’ … Are you going to bring anyone into the fold with this? Probably not,” he told CTV News Edmonton. But he appreciates the different tactic. “Instead of focusing on pro-Canada, pro-unity, saying no to the idea of exploring separatism, it’s actually saying, how much does this cost to even have this debate in the first place?” he said. “The question of whether we should be doing this or not is somewhat moot in the sense that we are doing it, and we’re going to have the vote … They’re banking on the fact that a lot of polls show that (education and health care are) higher on Albertans’ priority list. It’s attaching them to those things, which is more effective.” Education, health care and affordability have been hot topics for the province in recent years, meaning the comparisons on the website could hit home for many. Five of the 10 questions on the ballot, for example, will ask if immigrants should have to buy into public services in order to reduce strain on emergency rooms and classrooms. Alberta Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides stands by the choice to hold a referendum, arguing the province has already allocated classroom support funding. “I believe we’re moving ahead aggressively in investing in the services that Albertans need, while at the same time making sure that they have a strong say in their democracy,” he told reporters at an unrelated press conference on Tuesday. Albertans head to the polls on Oct. 19. As of Tuesday, more than 610,000 people have applied for mail-in ballots ahead of voting day. With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Chelan Skulski
