EDMONTON — UCP members of the committee assigned to review Thomas Lukaszuk's Forever Canadian petition refused to accept a May 7 deadline for the committee's report during the group's first meeting on Tuesday, amid allegations of stalling. The NDP's deputy leader and Select Special Citizen Initiative Proposal Review Committee member, Rakhi Pancholi, backed by fellow NDP MLA Court Ellingson, called on the group to approve an expedited deadline for the committee to complete a full review of Lukaszuk's petition and submit a report. Pancholi said the goal should be to reach a decision and submit the report before the Assembly's spring session ends on May 14. Minister Jason Nixon and his fellow UCP committee members, Minister Rajan Sawhney and MLA Tara Sawyer, opposed Pancholi's motion. The UCP members agreed that the decision needs to be made swiftly, but setting a May 7 deadline could jeopardize the committee's ability to execute a thorough and proper review of the petition. .The committee has been tasked with reviewing and deciding how Lukaszuk's Forever Canadian legislative policy proposal petition, which calls on the government to hold a referendum asking Albertans, "Do you agree that Alberta should remain in Canada?"Many Albertans, including the UCP, have expressed confusion about Lukaszuk's request, unsure whether his petition called for a policy vote in the legislature on Alberta remaining in Canada or for a provincial referendum."There are literally two boxes to check off," said Lukaszuk to reporters after the meeting. "One is the Constitutional Option, which forces a referendum; the other one is a legislative policy option, which is the one that I checked off.""Which means that we are asking, and Premier, if you're listening, we are asking you to put the question put forward by Forever Canadians, by half a million Albertans, that says, "Do you agree that Alberta should remain in Canada?" on the floor of Alberta legislature before the end of this spring session and have all MLAs freely vote on this question."It's that simple. I'm not sure what the Premier is confused about here."Alternatively, Lukaszuk recognizes that Premier Danielle Smith can call a referendum on Alberta independence whenever she wants, and the petition asks that the inevitable referendum question be, "Do you agree that Alberta should remain in Canada?".It took 42 days for the committee to hold its first meeting on Tuesday, despite both the UCP and NDP acknowledging the urgency of determining the next steps for Lukaszuk's petition, given that the question would ideally be placed on the October referendum ballot if needed.Pancholi said 42 days is far too long, and it only took that long because the UCP was looking to delay their decision until the end of the session, which would then give the committee until November 11 to submit a report, rather than the June 8 deadline if the Assembly was still sitting.She told the committee that a May 7 deadline is necessary because Lukaszuk and the over 400,000 Albertans deserve to have their voices heard before November.UCP members of the committee argued for the importance of receiving a technical briefing and background information about the Citizen Initiative Act from the Ministry of Justice and the Chief Electoral Office before committing to a prescribed timeline."This is the first committee of its kind, under this act, so I thought, as chair, it was reasonable that the committee members would be interested in getting those technical briefings and giving us a really good understanding about what we're going to do moving forward," said the committee's chair, UCP MLA Brandon Lunty..Pancholi and Lukaszuk claim the rejection of her motion is not about ensuring the committee is doing a thorough job. They believe it is another part of Smith and the UCP's plan to cater to Alberta independence supporters by ensuring the Stay Free Alberta referendum question gets on the October ballot."So, as I always have said, we're playing a game where the referee is also the coach of the other team," said Lukaszuk to reporters after the meeting."She's adding on periods to this game as many as she needs, hoping that the separatists win and get their signatures so that she can proceed with the separatist agenda."Stay Free Alberta's petition submission deadline is May 2.However, signature verification cannot begin until Justice Shaina Leonard lifts her stay and issues a ruling in a pair of First Nations cases seeking to stop the petition by nullifying the Chief Electoral Officer's decision to issue a second Alberta independence petition.Lunty would not commit to submitting the committee's report before the session ends on May 14, but he told reporters they intend to work hard as a committee to make sure the 400,000 Albertans who signed the petition feel heard, while also conducting the process correctly.If the committee runs past May 14, a legislative vote on Lukaszuk's question will not be held until after the Legislature reconvenes on October 27. However, if they deem his question needs to be put to a referendum, the UCP cabinet can place it on the ballot without a vote..The UCP members of the committee also rejected a motion on Tuesday to have Lukaszuk called to the next meeting to discuss the intent behind his petition, the signature-gathering process, and to take questions.Nixon said it would be premature for Lukaszuk to be called to speak before the committee has even completed the technical briefings and been given further insight into the Citizen Initiative Act."You know, the premier, Premier Danielle Smith, keeps saying over the last few weeks that she is very confused," Lukaszuk said to reporters. "She has no idea what the intention of the petition is.""And now there's an opportunity for me to appear before the committee and share with the committee what the intention of the petition is, and clarify any doubt that the Premier may have, and the committee chooses not to hear from half a million Albertans."UCP committee members said they may be willing to hear from Lukaszuk, but only after the technical briefing is complete. Lunty did not set a date for the committee's next meeting, instead saying he will consult with the Ministry of Justice and the Chief Electoral Office to give them time to prepare a briefing.
