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EDMONTON — Elections Alberta has verified the “Alberta Forever Canada” citizen initiative petition as successful, confirming it surpassed the legal threshold needed to advance to the Alberta legislature.
The petition, also known as the “Forever Canadian” initiative, asks: “Do you agree that Alberta should remain within Canada?” It was launched by former deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk as a response to Alberta separatist efforts pushing for a referendum on independence.
Elections Alberta says the petition required 293,976 signatures, equal to 10 percent of electors on the 2023 post-election voters list. It received 438,568 valid signatures before a random statistical sampling method verified 404,293, representing an estimated 13.6 percent of registered electors.
Lukaszuk said earlier his goal is not necessarily to trigger a referendum but to have Premier Danielle Smith bring the question to the legislature for a vote. Under the Citizen Initiative Act, a copy of the policy proposal was submitted Monday to the Speaker of the legislative assembly.
Because MLAs are currently sitting, the Speaker must table the proposal in the assembly within 15 days. Within 10 sitting days, the government must move to refer the proposal to a legislative committee. That committee will have up to 90 days, while the house is sitting, to produce a report or recommend referring the question to a referendum. If a referendum is recommended, it must occur on or before the next fixed provincial election date of Oct. 18, 2027.
The petition was approved June 30, issued July 30 and entered verification on Oct. 28. Required financial reports were submitted Nov. 27. Elections Alberta has updated its website with the results and next steps for the initiative.
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