Separatism referendum cost $84 million, exceeded Elections Alberta budget

7:59 The road ahead: how Alberta’s referendum could reshape the fight for provincial powers

Alberta’s elections agency says last month’s historic separation vote came with a price tag of $84 million.

Officials from Elections Alberta shared the total when they appeared at a legislature committee on Thursday.

Chief electoral officer Gordon McClure says the Alberta referendum price tag is nearly $50 million more than the agency’s annual budget could pay for and that it needs the government to cover the rest through additional funding.

He says roughly $26 million is needed just to pay staff who counted more than 22 million ballots that were cast in the 10-question vote.

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McClure and other officials added that the referendum was crushing, with staff working long hours; one staffer developed appendicitis and put off getting treatment.

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“I myself worked a 22-hour shift; that was my longest shift,” Steve Kaye, the agency’s chief administrative officer, told the committee.

“Everybody here at this table worked probably at least 16 to 20-hour days. But that comes with the territory. We’re not here complaining.”

He said that compared with other provinces their agency is one of the leanest.

“We have had our foot on the gas for a long time. People are tired, and we have some concerns going forward about being able to hire some of the people that have worked for us in the past,” Kaye said.

Elections Alberta also asked for an additional $9 million in funding to start preparing for next year’s general election, which it says it will be able to deliver on time despite the government planning to bring new electoral maps into law in the coming weeks.