Equalization question gets 62% support; daylight saving time voted down by tiniest margin

The majority of Albertans who voted in last week's municipal elections want Canada to remove the equalization section from the Constitution, but support for reverting to year-round daylight saving time was almost evenly split among voters with those voting against narrowly coming out on top.

Elections Alberta reported 61.7 per cent of voters said "yes" to the equalization question, with 38.3 per cent checking "no" on their ballots. 

On the daylight saving time question, 50.1 per cent said they were opposed with 49.9 per cent in favour. 

Alberta municipalities were tasked by the provincial government with running the two referendum votes alongside ballots in the Oct. 18 municipal elections. In addition to questions about equalization and clocks, voters were also ask to choose three senators-in-waiting for Alberta. 

Out of 13 candidates, three Conservative Party of Canada candidates received the most votes: Pam Davidson (18.2 per cent), Erika Barootes (17.1 per cent) and Mykhailo Martyniouk (11.3 per cent). 

Of the 1,118,828 Albertans who voted on Oct. 18, 38 per cent declined to take a Senate ballot or left it blank. 

Canadians do not elect Senators. The prime minister chooses candidates from a list of people who apply for the position.

When the NDP became the government in Alberta, senate elections were dropped. However Premier Jason Kenney and his United Conservative Party brought them back when they took office in 2019. 

Kenney will discuss the results of the equalization referendum, the daylight saving time referendum and the vote for Senate nominees in a news conference starting at 12:30 p.m. MT (2:30 p.m. ET) Tuesday.

Kenney will be joined by Nate Glubish, minister of Service Alberta.

You can watch the news conference live here.

The question on equalization asked voters whether they support removing a clause from the Constitution that commits the federal government to transferring federal tax dollars between provinces to ensure equivalent public services are available across Canada.

The result of the yes-or-no vote would have no immediate bearing on the program since scrapping equalization would require a constitutional amendment. 

Kenney has said Alberta has concerns over billions of dollars its residents pay, while provinces such as British Columbia and Quebec obstruct oil and pipeline projects that underpin that wealth.