Alberta
Alberta looking to ban electronic vote tabulators ahead of next provincial election
From LifeSiteNews
electronic voting tabulators, which were supposed to speed up vote counting, instead saw election results delayed due with workers having to manually enter the results that each tabulator printed out.
The conservative Premier of Alberta, Danielle Smith, has confirmed she is looking to ban the use of electronic vote tabulators in future provincial elections after issues with them in the 2023 election saw massive delays in the tallying of votes.
Smith, according to a report from True North, while speaking to a United Conservative Party (UCP) fundraiser on January 26 in the community of Bonnyville was asked if she would “end the use of voting tabulators across the province?”
Smith replied with a firm “yes.”
The 2023 Alberta provincial elections held in May saw Smith and her UCP win a majority, although a slim one, over the left-wing Alberta New Democratic Party (NDP).
Elections Alberta used what is called a Vote Anywhere Service, which allowed anyone to vote at any voting place regardless of which riding (jurisdiction) they were actually voting in. While paper ballots were used for the election, electronic tabulators were used to count the votes from all hand ballots. A form was then printed out with the result of each riding from the tabulators count of the hand ballots.
However, the electronic voting tabulators, which were supposed to speed up vote counting, instead saw election results delayed due with workers having to manually enter the results that each tabulator printed out.
Elections Alberta noted in June 2023, per True North, that “[w]e did not use any electronic data transfer from the tabulators, as the tabulators used for advance voting were never connected to a network at any time.”
“As a result, it was a manual process to verify and enter these results.”
Many in the UCP have long called for the return of hand counting, as is done in Canada’s federal elections.
As for Smith, before the 2023 election, she noted that she was confident in Elections Alberta’s plan to use electronic tabulators, as “we have the ability to do a hand count as a follow up in the event there are close results, I believe that’s going to be sufficient.”
“That’s, I think, something that people expect in democracy – that you should be able to verify a vote if results end up very close,” she added.
Elections Alberta, however, has pushed back on returning to hand counting ballots, saying it would increase the manual workload of employees.
There were many close results on election night, with the NDP losing a few seats by only a handful of votes in some Calgary ridings.
Smith gave no timeline as to how or when she would make the change.
Many large municipalities in Alberta, including the province’s two biggest cities, Calgary and Edmonton, use electronic tabulators for ballot counting.
Issues surrounding electronic voting machines as well as tabulators came to a head in the aftermath of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, which saw Joe Biden declared the winner over Donald Trump.
A report published by LifeSiteNews last year documented how a computer programmer, Clinton Eugene Curtis, who had previously testified to Congress on the integrity of voting machines, warned lawmakers in Arizona to never trust them.
“Don’t use machines, because you can never, ever trust them to give you a fair election,” said Curtis.
“There are too many ways to hack them. You can hack them at the level that I did when you first build them, you can hack them from the outside, you can hack them with programs that load themselves on the side. It’s impossible to secure them. You will never beat the programmer. The programmer always owns the universe.”
Of note is that Curtis is a Democrat who had worked as a programmer for NASA, as well as the Department of Defense and other government agencies.
Keyera Corp.’s natural gas liquids facilities in Fort Saskatchewan. Photo courtesy Keyera Corp.
From the Canadian Energy Centre
By Will Gibson
Keyera ‘Canadianizes’ natural gas liquids with $5.15 billion acquisition
Sarnia, Ont., which sits on the southern tip of Lake Huron and peers across the St. Clair River to Michigan, is a crucial energy hub for much of the eastern half of Canada and parts of the United States.
With more than 60 industrial facilities including refineries and chemical plants that produce everything from petroleum, resins, synthetic rubber, plastics, lubricants, paint, cosmetics and food additives in the southwestern Ontario city, Mayor Mike Bradley admits the ongoing dialogue about tariffs with Canada’s southern neighbour hits close to home.
So Bradley welcomed the announcement that Calgary-based Keyera Corp. will acquire the majority of Plains American Pipelines LLP’s Canadian natural gas liquids (NGL) business, creating a cross-Canada NGL corridor that includes a storage hub in Sarnia.
“As a border city, we’ve been on the frontline of the tariff wars, so we support anything that helps enhance Canadian sovereignty and jobs,” says the long-time mayor, who was first elected in 1988.
The assets in Sarnia are a key piece of the $5.15 billion transaction, which will connect natural gas liquids from the growing Montney and Duvernay plays in B.C. and Alberta to markets in central Canada and the eastern U.S. seaboard.
Map courtesy Keyera Corp.
NGLs are hydrocarbons found within natural gas streams including ethane, propane and pentanes. They are important energy sources and used to produce a wide range of everyday items, from plastics and clothing to fuels.
Keyera CEO Dean Setoguchi cast the proposed acquisition as an act of repatriation.
“This transaction brings key NGL infrastructure under Canadian ownership, enhancing domestic energy capabilities and reinforcing Canada’s economic resilience by keeping value and decision-making closer to home,” Setoguchi told analysts in a June 17 call.
“Plains’ portfolio forms a fully integrated cross Canada NGL system connecting Western Canada supply to key demand centres across the Prairie provinces, Ontario and eastern U.S.,” he said.
“The system includes strategic hubs like Empress, Fort Saskatchewan and Sarnia – which provide a reliable source of Canadian NGL supply to extensive fractionation, storage, pipeline and logistics infrastructure.”
Martin King, RBN Energy’s managing director of North America Energy Market Analysis, sees Keyera’s ability to “Canadianize” its NGL infrastructure as improving the company’s growth prospects.
“It allows them to tap into the Duvernay and Montney, which are the fastest growing NGL plays in North America and gives them some key assets throughout the country,” said the Calgary-based analyst.
“The crown assets are probably the straddle plants in Empress, which help strip out the butane, ethane and other liquids for condensate. It also positions them well to serve the eastern half of the country.”
And that’s something welcomed in Sarnia.
“Having a Canadian source for natural gas would be our preference so we see Keyera’s acquisition as strengthening our region as an energy hub,” Bradley said.
“We are optimistic this will be good for our region in the long run.”
The acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026, pending regulatory approvals.
Meanwhile, the governments of Ontario and Alberta are joining forces to strengthen the economies of both regions, and the country, by advancing major infrastructure projects including pipelines, ports and rail.
A joint feasibility study is expected this year on how to move major private sector-led investments forward.
Alberta
Alberta school boards required to meet new standards for school library materials with regard to sexual content
Alberta’s government has introduced new standards to ensure school library materials are age-appropriate.
School libraries should be safe and supportive places where students can learn and explore without being exposed to inappropriate sexual content. However, in the absence of a consistent standard for selecting age-appropriate library materials, school boards have taken different approaches, leading to concerns about safeguards in place.
In response to these concerns, and informed by feedback from education partners and the public, Alberta’s government has created standards to provide school boards with clear direction on the selection, availability and access to school library materials, such as books.
“Our actions to ensure that materials in school libraries don’t expose children to sexual content were never about banning books. These new standards are to ensure that school boards have clear guidance to ensure age-appropriate access to school library materials, while reflecting the values and priorities of Albertans.”
The new standards set clear expectations for school library materials with regard to sexual content and require school boards to implement policies to support these standards.
Standards for school library materials
Under the new standards, school libraries are not permitted to include library materials containing explicit sexual content. Non-explicit sexual content may be accessible to students in Grade 10 and above, provided it is age-appropriate.
“Protecting kids from explicit content is common sense. LGBTQ youth, like all children, deserve to see themselves in stories that are age-appropriate, supportive and affirming – not in material that sexualizes or confuses them.”
School boards must also regularly review their school library collections, publish a full list of available materials and ensure that a staff member supervises students’ access to school library materials. School boards will have to remove any materials with explicit sexual content from their school libraries by October 1.
School board policies and procedures
All school boards must have publicly available policies that align with the new standards for selecting and managing library materials by January 1, 2026. School boards can either create new policies or update existing ones to meet these requirements.
These policies must outline how school library materials are selected and reviewed, how staff supervise students’ access throughout the school day, and how a student, parent, school board employee or other member of the school community can request a review or removal of materials in the school library. School boards are also required to clearly communicate these policies to employees, students and parents before January 2026.
“A robust, grade- and age-appropriate library catalogue is vital for student success. We welcome the ministry’s initiative to establish consistent standards and appreciate the ongoing consultation to help craft a plan that will serve our families and communities well.”
“Red Deer Public Schools welcomes the new provincial standards for school library materials. Our division is committed to maintaining welcoming, respectful learning spaces where students can grow and thrive. Under the new standards for school libraries, we remain dedicated to providing learning resources that reflect our values and support student success.”
Quick facts
- The new standards will apply to public, separate, francophone, charter and independent schools.
- The ministerial order does not apply to municipal libraries located within schools or materials selected for use by teachers as learning and teaching resources.
- From May 26 to June 6, almost 80,000 people completed an online survey to provide feedback on the creation of consistent standards to ensure the age-appropriateness of materials available to students in school libraries.
Related information
- Ministerial Order
- School library standards engagement
- Reference Materials: Content warning: this document contains graphic content that may be disturbing to viewers and is not appropriate for young viewers. Viewer discretion is advised.
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