Notice Board

March 18, 2019

2019 Elections (Provincial and Federal) and the University of Lethbridge

This year, Albertans will participate in two elections. As Alberta observes a fixed election period, a provincial election must take place before May 31, 2019. A federal election is also scheduled to take place on or before October 21, 2019.

As a public institution, the University of Lethbridge is a non-partisan organization. We are aware that many members of our community are politically engaged and we understand that these activities are important to ensure a healthy democracy. In many cases, these activities are not considered an act of employment and those who participate in partisan events and undertakings may only do so during their personal time and may not use university resources when doing so.

We do know, however, that the election is an important event for many of our faculty whose scholarly activity is tied to the political process, policies contained in platforms, who are more generally studying the election, or whose research topics themselves may be viewed as being political. The pursuit of academic activity related to the election is an important and acceptable activity, subject to applicable legislative frameworks.

It is also important that our university community be aware of the policies that govern activities at the University campuses. These policies outline how the University conducts itself during the course of an election campaign. 

The Signage & Advertising on University Premises Policy states that the content of postings must not promote a particular political bias, while the Impartiality and University Facility Utilization Policy notes that the University cannot be seen to favour any political party and recognizes that, because facilities exist in the community for political organizations, the University will not make its facilities available to such organizations. It should be noted however, that Students’ Union facilities are not subject to this policy.

These policies are posted on the University’s website.

Last month, the Government of Alberta published its Election Communication Policy (related to the Elections Act), which restricts “government advertising and other communications activity to ensure that governments neither involve themselves in nor influence elections.” Universities are specifically mentioned as an entity that is to comply with this policy.

The Elections Act allows the University to continue communications that are “continuous” and “required,” but the institution must ensure its communications are in step with provincial requirements during the writ period. Throughout past election periods, the University has been very deliberate about how it communicates, consistent with the non-partisan role it undertakes.

This Government of Alberta’s Election Communication Policy is available online.