Over 60 percent of Albertans have voted to remove the principle of equalization from the Constitution. The results of the Oct. 18 poll, held in conjunction with municipal and school board elections across the province, were released on Oct. 26. A second referendum question on keeping daylight time year-round failed by a small margin, 49.9 percent to 50.1 percent. Equalization The referendum to remove equalization, an election promise by Jason Kenney’s UCP government in 2019, received approval from 62 percent of voters. There has been long-standing grievance in Alberta over the redistribution of wealth to other provinces under the equalization scheme, as contributions from energy-rich Alberta make up a sizeable portion of the payments to other provinces. Low oil prices in recent years has served to increase the opposition. To decide which provinces can receive an equalization payment, Ottawa measures each province’s ability to raise tax revenues and compares that …