EDMONTON — Alberta’s governing United Conservatives have officially endorsed changes to provincial riding boundaries that the Opposition NDP says are rigged to help the UCP win the next election. Premier Danielle Smith’s UCP caucus, in a vote split along party lines, voted to endorse the riding changes and put the new boundaries into a bill to be debated in the house. Justice Minister Mickey Amery says he wants the new boundaries in place by the end of the year ahead of the scheduled election in October of 2027. The riding report came from panel with a majority of members selected by the UCP. The NDP says the report dilutes urban ridings in Lethbridge and Calgary by merging them with adjacent rural areas to favour the UCP in a process known as gerrymandering. Smith rejects the accusations and says so-called hybrid ridings are an accepted and effective way to draw up riding boundaries. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2026. The Canadian Press
