Gee, that’s so nice somebody in Edmonton or Calgary is really, really worried their vote is only worth maybe half, or (horrors, even less!) than somebody in Westlock! Or High Prairie! Or Peace River! Or Fairview! Oh, the hardship!
To make this clear, it works like this: A provincial constituency in Edmonton might have 50,000 people in it. Meanwhile, a rural constituency might have, for example, 25,000 people. Each constituency in the end only gets one Member of the Legislature. So simple arithmetic means if all those people vote in each constituency, 50,000 people get an MLA in one. And in the other, 25,000 also gets one.
So the question is, is that fair?
If you ask people in Calgary or Edmonton, most will say no. And really have no reason except, “Gee, look at the numbers.”
If you ask anybody in rural Alberta, most will say of course it is. And can start rattling off reason after reason why.
Reality is, few people in the big cities really give a rat’s patookie where their water comes from. They think it comes from taps and that’s that. It’s pretty well the same story with food. Jobs and bank accounts. It’s a hardship if the nearest Tim’s is more than five minutes away, traffic is piling up at rush hour, Home Depot runs out of garden decorations, or the 24-pack of sushi rolls is sold out.
If they have an interest in politics, they can probably walk down the street and visit with their MLA. In a worse case, take the LRT, a bus, or an Uber. Before they go, they can order a Door Dash. Check the prices for all kinds of shopping and services. And even use their high-speed internet to order movies.
There is no real need to compare to rural Alberta. All of us who live out here know the differences. We’ve convinced ourselves this is a better way of life. In fact, we put up with what some people call “hardship” because, in reality it’s just life. It’s our choice. The same way somebody in a city puts up with traffic, panhandlers, endless homeless encampments, gangs and serious crime, high costs of living, pollution and even the effort it takes to “take a holiday.” They, too, have convinced themselves it’s a better way of life.
Chalk that thinking to being the same as your own preferred brand of vehicle, house of worship, or whether you married a blonde or brunette, or a fellow who will probably go bald. We all can convince ourselves of just about anything without even trying. No effort needed at all!
This matter of “my vote is worth as much as yours, so there” style of thinking runs through much of our leadership. Without naming names, nobody, except perhaps most of us in northern Alberta, thought there was anything wrong with naming an old fellow from the desert badlands of southern Alberta as minister of Forestry. Nobody in Edmonton or Calgary thinks it is screwy adding even more politicians in concrete jungles, without giving a thought to who speaks for rivers and trees, beavers and bears and moose, ranches and crops.
Equalizing votes is in fact, just another way of slowly killing off what keeps Alberta alive.
Jeff Burgar