Calgary votes Yes on fluoride. Daylight saving is split, voters lean toward nixing equalization

Calgary voters turned out in support of adding fluoride back into the city's tap water with roughly two-thirds of the ballots marked for the Yes side.

On the other ballot questions, the vote was tighter.

Calgary residents lean toward removing the principle of equalization from the Canadian Constitution; they are almost evenly split on the question of daylight saving.

Daylight saving and equalization are provincial questions, so initial reports give only a suggestion of where all Albertans will land. Several smaller cities also reported.

In the Senate race, the Conservative-affiliated candidates won in all major cities sharing results so far.

Here are the details.

Fluoride in tap water

The plebiscite question for Calgarians was: Are you in favour of reintroducing fluoridation of the municipal water supply? 

The Yes side took an early lead and kept winning. By the time all polls reported, the Yes side had 62 per cent of the vote. The No side had 38 per cent.

It's an issue Calgary residents voted on in 1998 and 1989, when they voted Yes to fluoride. Calgary's city council chose to stop adding fluoride to the city's water supply in 2011.

Whatever the outcome of the plebiscite, city council will make the final decision.

Daylight saving and equalization

Results aren't final on these questions until Elections Alberta gathers and tabulates the vote from every municipality. But with Calgary and several smaller cities reporting, we have an early guess as to the direction.

These votes are close.

In Calgary, 58 per cent of voters selected Yes on equalization — in favour of removing it from the Canadian Constitutions.

Lethbridge was similar with 59 per cent voting Yes. Grande Prairie and Red Deer were higher, with 69 per cent supporting the removal of equalization in both cities. Edmonton and the Municipality of Wood Buffalo have said they will submit results to Elections Alberta first rather than releasing them publicly now.

The vote on daylight saving was even tighter. In Calgary, 52 per cent of voters said No, which is a vote to keep the current twice-a-year changing of the clocks.

In Lethbridge, 51 per cent voted Yes to stay on daylight saving time all year-round, and in Red Deer, voters were 55 per cent on the Yes side. But in Grande Prairie, voters chose No with 56 per cent of the vote.

Keep in mind, all the results must be added together and released by Elections Alberta before the results are final.

Elections Alberta says it will release provincewide results Oct. 26. 

These two questions were: 

• Should section 36(2) of the Constitution Act, 1982, Parliament and the Government of Canada's commitment to the principle of making equalization payments, be removed from the Constitution?
• Do you want Alberta to adopt year-round daylight saving time, which is summer hours, eliminating the need to change our clocks twice a year? 

A No vote means Albertans will continue changing their clocks twice a year. This Elections Alberta chart shows how the change would impact the timing of sunrises and sunsets in the province.

The Senate election

Voters were allowed to vote for up to three Senate candidates. Thirteen people ran as either Independent or affiliated with the Conservative Party of Canada or the People's Party of Canada.

In Calgary, Grande Prairie, Red Deer and Lethbridge, the Conservative candidates had the most votes. That's Pam Davidson, Erika Barootes and Mykhailo Martyniouk.

Other results may be available on the websites of other cities, towns and municipalities.

But this does not necessarily mean these people will end up in the Senate: senators in Canada are not elected, they're appointed.

It is up to the sitting prime minister of Canada to decide whether any of these individuals will be appointed to the Senate when a position opens. The prime minister advises the Governor General, who makes the actual appointment to the upper house of Parliament.