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Power & Politics
CBC
On Power & Politics, host David Cochrane asks decision-makers the questions that matter – and gets answers. Every weekday, we feature hard-hitting interviews with politicians and leaders, check in with CBC’s top political journalists for updates on breaking stories, and take the time to analyze the latest developments with a cast of regular panelists and critical thinkers. Whether you’re getting caught up on Canadian politics daily or weekly, we’ve got an insider’s view of the continuously-unfolding drama.'
56 claims · Clear filters
True90% confidence4 sourcesOct 21, 2026Nearly 75% of voters in the Alberta referendum chose to remain in Canada.Said by AElections Alberta's official results show 74.95% of valid Question 10 votes backed remaining in Canada, and AP and other outlets reported about 75% on unofficial counts, so 'nearly 75%' is accurate. The figure is a share of valid votes on the separation question, not of all eligible voters, and the extraction faithfully matches the speaker's 'almost 75%' remark.True92% confidence6 sourcesOct 21, 2026Ryan Wedding controls a drug trafficking organization.Multiple primary and tier1 sources (DOJ, FBI, Treasury, State Department, DEA, AP, Reuters) describe Ryan Wedding as the leader of a transnational cocaine trafficking organization, which the claim's core assertion matches. The claim departs only slightly from the passage's 'one of the most violent' wording by dropping the qualifier, which is a faithful paraphrase; as of 2026-10-21 the sources show Wedding was arrested in January 2026 and held pending trial, but the claim is judged on the organization's existence and his leadership of it at that time.True95% confidence5 sourcesOct 21, 2026The United Conservative Party lost the by-election in Calgary Shaw.Said by BThe UCP lost the Calgary-Shaw by-election held September 14, 2026: the NDP's Kyle Campbell won, and official results from Elections Alberta confirmed UCP candidate Mike Derry finished second. The extraction faithfully reflects the passage, where the interviewer's "you" refers to Premier Smith's party and government.True80% confidence5 sourcesOct 21, 2026Avi Lewis does not have a seat in the federal government.Said by BOn 2026-10-21, Avi Lewis held no seat in the federal House of Commons. Multiple sources from March through late October 2026 describe him as seatless, and he declined to run in the summer byelections. The claim says 'federal government' where the post meant a parliamentary seat, a minor imprecision that does not change the verdict.True85% confidence7 sourcesOct 21, 2026The NDP caucus does not have official party status in the federal government.Said by BThe sources consistently show the federal NDP lost official party status after the 2025 election, when it won only seven seats, and it has since fallen to five seats against the 12 needed, so its caucus lacked official status on 2026-10-21. The post's 'his caucus' refers to Avi Lewis's NDP caucus in the House of Commons, which matches the claim's scope. Sources are mostly secondary (Angus Reid, CBC/Canadian Press, The Walrus, Political Record), and the tier1 fact-checker results in the set do not address this point.True80% confidence4 sourcesOct 21, 2026The Citizens Initiative Law allows groups to collect signatures to force the government to confront an issue.Said by BOfficial Alberta sources describe the Citizen Initiative Act as letting eligible electors, through a petition with a set signature threshold, put a measure to a province-wide vote, which matches the claim's core. The post's conditional about the court appeal concerns the law's status in litigation, not its mechanism, and the sources do not address the appeal outcome, so it does not change the grade.True95% confidence4 sourcesOct 21, 2026California requires a 5% signature threshold for policy initiatives and an 8% threshold for constitutional amendments.Said by ACalifornia's signature requirements match the claim: initiative statutes need signatures equal to 5% of the votes cast for Governor in the last gubernatorial election, and initiative constitutional amendments need 8%. The rule is stated in the Department of Finance, Secretary of State and Legislative Analyst's Office sources, and the extraction faithfully reflects the post's wording.True85% confidence7 sourcesOct 21, 2026The recent referendum on Alberta independence resulted in a 75% vote against independence and a 25% vote for independence.Said by AMultiple sources report the referendum result as roughly 75% for remaining in Canada and 25% for beginning a separation process, and Wikipedia's table of Elections Alberta results shows 74.95% and 25.05%. The claim's wording calls the 25% a vote 'for independence,' but the ballot asked about starting a process toward a binding separation vote, and AP notes it was not a direct independence vote; this is a label difference, not a change in the figures.True85% confidence6 sourcesOct 21, 2026Approximately 2 million people voted in the Alberta independence referendum.Said by AThe official Elections Alberta results and CBC's report show about 2.08 million valid votes and about 2.2 million total ballots on the separation question (Question 10), which matches 'approximately 2 million people voted.' The 22.1 million figure counts ballots across all 10 questions, not voters, as AFP's fact-check explains, so it does not contradict the claim.True80% confidence6 sourcesOct 21, 2026Premier Danielle Smith has committed to not putting forward another independence vote until the end of her term in 2031.Said by ASources show Smith pledged on referendum night (October 2026) not to hold another separation referendum as long as she is premier, which matches the claim's core commitment as of 2026-10-21. The explicit 2031 end-of-term date comes from the post's own words, not from the sources, and the post ties 2031 to the candidates' term, so the claim's timing is a reasonable paraphrase rather than a contradiction.True60% confidence4 sourcesOct 21, 2026The United Conservative Party has less than 100,000 members.Said by 2CThe claim that the UCP has fewer than 100,000 members is supported by the most recent membership figures in the sources, which show about 54,000 to 55,000 members in 2024. No source reports a 2026 figure at or above 100,000, though the sources contain no 2026 membership count, so the evidence is directional rather than direct. The claim's wording also matches the speaker's passage, so no extraction departure was found.True85% confidence5 sourcesOct 21, 2026Over 500,000 Albertans voted for the independence path.Said by 2CThe official and unofficial Elections Alberta counts show 519,000 to 520,000 voters chose Option 2, the path toward a binding separation referendum, which is over 500,000. The claim's 'independence path' is a fair shorthand for that option, though the sources note the vote was not a direct vote on independence.