Overview

• The first two town halls in Red Deer and Edmonton highlighted deep divisions, with Red Deer attendees largely backing autonomy measures and about one-third of the 500 Edmonton participants voicing strong criticism.
• Early online surveys excluded a rejection option for proposals on a provincial pension plan, police force and tax collection agency, prompting allegations of built-in bias.
• In response to the backlash, three surveys were revised to include a ‘none of the above’ choice and the government will publish results separately for each original and updated version, yielding nine distinct survey tracks.
• NDP deputy leader Rakhi Pancholi and Public Interest Alberta’s Bradley Lafortune condemned the process as a partisan campaign, while pollster Janet Brown cautioned that the engagement exercise is not representative of the broader electorate.
• Eight more town halls are scheduled through September in communities like Fort McMurray, Lloydminster and Calgary as officials gather public input ahead of potential autonomy referendums.