The leader of Alberta's New Democrats is crying foul over proposed changes to riding boundaries ahead of the next provincial election.

“I call that cheating. I call that stealing the election, I call it rigging an election,” Naheed Nenshi said, suggesting Premier Danielle Smith was seeking the changes due to a shift in provincial demographics and trying to maintain power.

On this week's Buffalo Roundtable, host Sheila Gunn Reid and guest Cory Morgan ridiculed the NDP leader's dramatic response.

Boundaries have to change to deal with the influx of newcomers, both from around the world and across Canada, noted Sheila.

“Boundaries do have to be redrawn so that these boundaries are fair,” she said. “But if you ask the left, they're saying this is gerrymandering in such a way that it puts democracy at risk,” she said, sarcastically referring to a Globe and Mail column by former NDP premier Rachel Notley.

“This is something that happens all the time, in every major democracy,” she added.

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The issue is not one worth “(lighting) their hair on fire,” said Cory Morgan, a columnist with the Western Standard. “It does make things look like the government's doing a little tinkering to make things look a little better for themselves,” he said, acknowledging “there might be a little of that going on.”

However, he was also quick to remind viewers that Nenshi, during his tenure as mayor of Calgary, pushed to have the city's wards redrawn in a similar manner.

“The bottom line is it always happens. This is not beyond the pale by any means, and is just another tempest in a teapot,” the author of The Sovereigntist's Handbook said.

“This is something that every major government does when they get the chance,” replied Sheila. “It generally benefits the government of the day — always — but this isn't a crisis,” suggesting Nenshi's popularity, or lack thereof, should be a far bigger concern for the party.