There is a lot of genuine fear within the queer and trans community about what this referendum can mean for the future of our rights in this province. The UCP has already made multiple shots at trans youth, and if history has taught us anything, it is not long before "protecting the kids" turns into legislating the adults. The referendum is already a threat to the healthcare of all Albertans, but it is especially harrowing for those of us actively seeking gender affirmative care through services like AHS, especially because the vast majority of us do not have any kind of insurance.

I cannot stress enough how utterly fabricated the "trans children getting hormones/surgery" fantasy the UCP has peddling is, especially in Alberta of all places. Please keep in mind that I am a 23 year old trans adult living in my own home, responsible for all of my medical needs and choices. I have been on the waiting list for surgery for 5 going into 6 years now, and I am still about a year away from a consultation. We could not give your children surgery even if we wanted to, we don't even have enough availability to help our adults transition. I came out as transgender when I was 16. I was legally required to complete two years of therapy before I was even allowed to be recommended for hormone therapy. Even then I had to wait until I was 18 to obtain hrt, even with parental consent. I was placed on the hormone blocker Lupron at 17 after multiple attempts on my life due to how severely distressing my menstrual cycle was. When I stopped taking Lupron, my period returned in 9 days. The effects of hormone blockers are completely reversible. Hormone blockers are mostly prescribed to cisgender children, usually girls who start their periods at 3 years old. They are reversible, and suicide is not.

Please understand, we could not help your children medically transition even if we wanted to. This is not something that happens in this province, it has never been something that has happened in this province. I have lost many friends proving this point. I am not prepared to lose more.

If there has ever been a time to be an ally, this would be your best opportunity. We don't have to have the same politics, I am just so sick and tired of my community, my family and friends, being used as the scapegoat of a political party that is actively inventing lies about us to avoid accountability for their own shortcomings.

Please vote.

I got an email tonight stating that the Save on Foods loyalty card (More Rewards) had unauthorized activity on their servers October 13th. Name, physical address, DOB, phone number and email was accessed. Passwords, credit card information and transaction history were not breached.

I wanted to let other people know in case others’ information was stolen and they not notice the email.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-researchers-find-jump-us-influence-campaigns-alberta-referendum-vote/

I'm very interested in what people are thinking with a few days to go before we get the results of the 10 referendum questions.

Do you think she'll get the results she wanted and will feel she has an ability to govern till the end of her term?

Do you think she'll be ousted from the job by the separatists side of her party? Will some other faction get her out?

If she doesn't get a clear majority on the first 9 questions, will she have been seen to lost her mandate?

Please be sure to give a little reason as to why you think what you think.

If you've ever used McDougall Auctions, who was the auction software provider for Harvard Media Auctions provided by Hot 107/Cruz FM a few years ago, their site and your information has been completely compromised. Hackers stole their entire database including passwords and any credit information. Of course, McDougall Auctions hasn't notified anyone. Go change your PW and delete any credit card info ASAP.

I know the hosts at Hot 107/Cruz FM check Reddit for ideas so I hope they spread the awareness.

Even though the plan was to release flu and covid vaccines on Monday, they started yesterday - your pharmacy has them ready and waiting for you! Appointments aren't needed necessarily - if there's no line-up, you'll have no wait.

Help keep your health up, and protect those around you, too!

Folks are seeing a lot of flu and covid in Emergency Departments, and the numbers are rising:
https://www.alberta.ca/stats/dashboard/respiratory-virus-dashboard.htm

And this means you have more time to go vote on Monday! Win-win!

IRCC announced that starting November 3, Express Entry will give 50 to 100 CRS points for job offers in "high-wage occupations," and those offers won't need an LMIA. An occupation qualifies based on its national median wage, not the pay of the specific offer.

The list includes healthcare and skilled trades, where there are clear shortages. It also includes many corporate roles: accountants, financial analysts, software developers, data scientists, HR professionals, and engineers.

Those corporate roles are where offshoring and AI are already reducing demand. One recent example: Imperial Oil announced it's cutting about 900 jobs by the end of 2027, mostly in Calgary, with some of that work moving to ExxonMobil's global centres in India. Many of the affected roles are on the new list.

Without the LMIA, there's no step that checks whether a Canadian is available for the job or whether the offer pays market rate.

For people working in these fields, how does the job market look where you are? Should the list be narrower, or does it make sense as is?

Sources: IRCC announcement: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/news/2026/10/changes-to-express-entry-for-high-wage-occupations.html

High-wage occupation list: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/express-entry/check-score/high-wage.html

Imperial job cuts (CBC): https://www.cbc.ca/lite/story/1.7646918

Disclaimer: This is not official Elections Alberta communication. These are my own observations and thoughts as a non-partisan election officer who wants to see maximum voter turnout and a smooth election process for all involved. No AI was used in the process of writing this post.

Main takeaways from days two and three of advanced voting:

1. Things have calmed down and are under control from the perspectives of election workers and organisers. We are still volunteering two hours of our time without pay.

We are able to prepare the ballot bundles in advance and have spares and control the flow of people in lines better.

The turnout on day two and day three were steady and marginally lower than the turnout on day one. As I noted earlier, I encourage and urge everyone to come out and vote early on Friday and Saturday rather than wait for election day on Monday next week. For those of you who have already voted, kindly spread the word and encourage and urge everyone to vote on the advanced polling days which are tomorrow and the day after.

Please don’t be discouraged by weather such as rain or snow. Please come to vote.

Curbside voting is always an option if you have mobility issues or any other reason that prevents you from walking all the way into the polling station. Election officers are under oath to register you and cast your ballots ethically.

1. The Where to Vote (WTV) cards are not mandatory or important at all.

If you want to find out where to vote, use your physical address on the Elections Alberta Where to Vote website to find out which advanced polling station or election day voting station is the one you should be headed to.

You can find the website here: https://map.elections.ab.ca/

Just bring a piece of ID like a drivers license or government identification and another piece of ID that has your address that assign is you to that polling station. The ID requirements are super flexible and a long list of options are available. Utility bills, lease agreements, bank statements and even the option of updating your home address on your bank app as long as your name matches the government ID you are using all work as proof of address.

If your Alberta ID has expired, it can still be accepted if you have any other piece of ID that has your name on it. A credit card, a Costco card, an employer ID, or anything else to verify your name can be used. We even accept a picture of an Alberta driver license that is accompanied with another piece of ID like a passport or a utility bill which can also be on the phone as well.

1. Please do not make life more difficult for the election workers. Comments such as “I’m voting for Canada” or “ I just wanna get the hell out of this country!” or “ I just want the separation nonsense to go away.” or “The liberals are just rigging this election so that we don’t separate and be free.” are not welcome.

Election workers must be neutral and must not express any opinion that excuses either way of the political spectrum. These comments put us in a difficult situation. Keep your comments and opinions to yourself. Be courteous and polite and respectful. Simple greetings and light banter about the weather is all you must be saying.

Comments about the necessity or complexity of the election/referendum are also not welcome. Comments like “ you are making our lives difficult with 10 ballots.” or “ this referendum is such a waste of time.” or “ this money could have been spent elsewhere for XYZ reason.” are not appreciated. Remember, we are supposed to be neutral. We cannot comment. We did not choose this process. Please direct your anger and frustration to the government.

Also, when election workers ask you to confirm something like age, citizenship status, or name and address, do not argue for no reason. We are not asking these questions for the sake of asking them or for fun. We are instructed and mandated to ask them.

Concerns about the validity of the vote because only pencils are provided to mark your ballots are unfounded. Comments like “pencil markings can be erased” or “ this election is rigged because of pencils” are totally ridiculous and unfounded. Logically speaking, if someone wanted to rig the election, using pencils, pens or any other stationary would not matter. I can assure you that all ballots will be counted. Also, you are more than welcome to use your own pen. You can either bring them with you or just ask politely to borrow one from the voting officers desk.
The main reasons pencils are provided are because that is what Elections Alberta has decided and provided(most likely because it is cheaper due to the lack of budget from the government) and also because pens are known to smudge ink on ballots which spoil them.

Feel free to ask any questions. I will try my best to answer them in the comments when I have the time.
I will try to make this a regular series so I can provide updates so that you can all be better informed and so that we can have a smooth election process with a maximum voter turnout.