Elections officials have confirmed that a petition to make it official policy for Alberta to stay in Canada has surpassed the required threshold, setting the stage for a decision on whether Albertans will vote in a province-wide referendum.
After weeks of reviewing hundreds of pages of signatures, Elections Alberta verified nearly 405,000 of the 439,000 submitted, well above the required 294,000.
The petition asks Albertans a direct question: “Do you agree that Alberta should remain within Canada?”
Former deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk launched the initiative as a counter to separatist movements pressing for a referendum on Alberta independence. Lukaszuk’s campaign, branded “Forever Canadian,” seeks to affirm Alberta’s place in Confederation amid growing debate over sovereignty.
The next step lies with a government committee, which must decide whether the issue will be addressed by MLAs in the legislature or put directly to voters in a referendum.
Premier Danielle Smith’s government has publicly urged Alberta to remain in Canada, but earlier this year, it lowered the threshold for groups to trigger a referendum.
That change has emboldened separatist organizations, including the Alberta Prosperity Project, which has advanced its own petition asking: “Do you agree that the province of Alberta shall become a sovereign country and cease to be a province of Canada?”
