Lukaszuk petition certified as separatists claim referendum
Former Progressive Conservative cabinet minister Thomas Lukaszuk’s petition to hold a referendum on Alberta’s separation from Canada has been certified by Elections Alberta
Former Progressive Conservative cabinet minister Thomas Lukaszuk’s petition to hold a referendum on Alberta’s separation from Canada has been certified by Elections Alberta, confirming it has enough signatures to trigger the legislative process.
In a Monday news release, Elections Alberta said Alberta’s Chief Electoral Officer Gordon McClure “has determined under section 10 the requirements of section 6 of the Citizen Initiative Act in effect on June 30, 2025, have been met and the petition is successful.”
Lukaszuk was required to gather 293,976 signatures in 90 days. This was because he filed the petition before Bill 54 was proclaimed, which would have lowered the requirement to 177,000 signatures in 90 days.
Elections Alberta counted 438,568 valid signatures. After a random statistical sampling method with a 95 per cent confidence level, 404,293 signatures were verified. An estimated 13.6 per cent of the province’s electors signed the citizen initiative petition.
After initially reporting that he exceeded the signature threshold, Lukaszuk was criticized for misleading signatories of his petition when he disavowed holding a referendum.
Separatist advocates are continuing to thank Lukaszuk for completing the process to hold a separatist referendum.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith previously confirmed this was the case.
“Mr. Lukaszuk’s vote is a yes/no question. It is a separatist referendum. He may be trying to characterize it differently. But if you ask people if you want to remain in Alberta, yes or no, there are implications if people answer no,” she said.
Constitutional Lawyer Keith Wilson similarly thanked Lukaszuk.
“Lukaszuk has effectively shortened the process and expedited the process for there to be a province-wide referendum on independence,” he said. “Thank you very much, Thomas Lukaszuk. He did not think this through. It’s quite remarkable.”
Lukaszuk must return the petition and canvasser documents to Elections Alberta, destroy all extra copies, and submit a signed affidavit of completion by Wednesday.
Under Alberta’s Citizen Initiative Act, the certified proposal now moves through required legislative steps.
The Speaker is obligated to table it in the Legislative Assembly immediately or within 15 days of the next sitting. The government then has 10 sitting days to introduce a motion sending the proposal to a legislative committee. That committee has up to 90 days, or 15 days after the next sitting begins, to either report back to the Assembly or recommend that cabinet proceed to a referendum. If a referendum is recommended, the vote must occur no later than the next provincial election on October 18, 2027.
Lukaszuk’s proposed question is “Do you agree that Alberta should remain in Canada?”
While the Alberta Prosperity Project’s proposed question was “Do you agree that the province of Alberta shall become a Sovereign Country and cease to be a province of Canada?”
Whether it was Lukaszuk’s intention or not, it seems that Albertans could be voting on a question to separate from Canada before the next provincial election.