Alberta Minister Dave Nally, Province’s Online Gambling Lead, Could Face Recall Vote

• Dave Nally is one of 14 United Conservative Party MLAs facing recall petitions from constituents
• Nally is the Alberta minister tasked with opening a regulated sports betting market in the province
• Latest estimates have listed Q1 / Q2 2026 for the launch of private Alberta sportsbooks

It’s been a quiet few months on the legal Alberta sports betting front — and the latest update may not bode for future launch plans.

Dave Nally, the Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction, has been named as one of 14 United Conservative Party (UCP) MLAs in the province to be met with a recall petition. Should Nally, who has been an integral figure in helping spearhead the opening of a new regulated betting market in Alberta, lose his seat as a result of the recall then it could potentially shake up future plans for the launch.

What a Recall Vote Could Mean for Nally and UCP MLAs

As it stands, Alberta premier Danielle Smith and the UCP hold a majority government in the province. Since they have a nine-seat advantage over the New Democratic Party (NDP) in Alberta, that would mean petitioners would need to be successful in unseating nine UCP MLAs in order to make that majority status go away. Despite that being quite a longshot, it is a real possibility that petitioners are hoping materializes.

For Nally (Morinville-St. Albert) specifically, he has been called to a recall vote by petitioner Joshua Eberhart who said: “As a taxpayer, two of the things that I value most are education and health care, and I think they’re being mismanaged a little bit by our current government, which includes my local representative.”

Nally did respond to his petitioner in a statement and said that he believes Eberhart is serving as a proxy for an activist group in Alberta that wants to force an early election.

Interestingly enough, the UCP actually introduced the recall rules back in 2021 and said it was designed to help combat complete misconduct and citizens not agreeing with the direction of the government.

How a Recall Vote Could Impact Alberta’s Sports Betting Plans

If Nally and eight other UCP MLAs were unseated as the result of a recall vote then the future of private Alberta sports betting apps could get quite interesting.

Nally has been the strategic lead in attracting interest from private sportsbooks, such as DraftKings and FanDuel, to Alberta. If he were to be unseated and the UCP lost their majority, it would certainly shake things up in terms of how the government would approach the topic of a legal, regulated sports betting market in the province.

While there are still a number of hurdles that petitioners still need to get through in order to cause such a shift, Q1 / Q2 2026 launch plans for Alberta sports betting apps could potentially hang in the balance if these recall petitions are successful.