EDMONTON — Thomas Lukaszuk's Forever Canadian group has entered a compliance agreement with Elections Alberta, directing them to report expenses connected to events where Alberta's independence referendum was discussed, after an investigation identified at least two examples of disclosure law violations. The agreement summary issued on Sept. 29 states that the Forever Canadian's initial events campaigning on "Canadian unity" were general in nature, and therefore did not meet the standards to force them to disclose expenses under the Election Finances and Contributions Act. "More recently, at some of these events, the Election Commissioner identified occasions where a speaker made specific reference to the referendum question on Alberta separation and took a position," reads the summary. "In addition, Forever Canadian has advised the Election Commissioner that it now intends to engage in referendum advertising." .Forever Canadian registered as a referendum third-party advertiser with Elections Alberta in June and, on Sept. 21, said it intends to begin acting as a TPA, but the elections office claims its referendum advertising dates back to August. The compliance agreement specifically points to a town hall held at West Edmonton Mall on Aug. 23 and posted to YouTube. It also states their Unity Bus tour events beginning Aug. 20. A viewer watching the town hall on Aug. 23 commented that the "referendum question's" wording is "misleading" and "double-barreled." Lukaszuk responded that he will not tell Albertans how to vote, "but I have no problem sharing how I will be voting because I actually read all the questions." Lukaszuk went on to speak specifically about "the question that pertains to separatism." "So the first part of the question is, 'Do you want Alberta to stay in Canada?' and obviously, for me, the answer is simple: 'Yes,'" Lukaszuk said. "So that's the option I would pick because the other option is to actually have another referendum, which I don't think we can stand economically anymore because we are already noticing economic damage being caused to Alberta.""All chambers of commerce are telling us that, and we cannot withstand any more social damage. You know, this division cannot carry on for another number of months, so my option will be to stay in Canada. Period." .Lukaszuk also held a "Unity" concert in Calgary on Sept. 20."This costs us a lot of money because it's free to Albertans, to Canadians, and to those from other provinces," Lukaszuk said on an episode of The OShow in September. "You're more than welcome to attend the concert. Register on our website, by the way, forever-Canadian.ca, but that's costing us money: the lawn signs, the bus on the road.""So we are begging for donations from across Canada to go onto our website, forever-Canadian.ca. But that's what allows us to do the work that we do. You know, most of the work is done with volunteers, but resources are still needed."The agreement requires Forever Canadian to distinguish between referendum advertising donations and other contributions on its website, and provide weekly reports to Elections Alberta that will be published every Friday. "Forever Canadian will include in its expense reporting expenses related to events where speakers promoted or opposed a referendum question, and specifically including the following events that occurred on or after August 20, 2026," the agreement summary reads.Forever Canadian reported $94,620 in financial contributions as of Thursday, a $46,275 increase from their initial figures submitted on Sept. 24. .The other 22 TPAs advertising on either side of the Alberta independence referendum submitted their weekly contribution reports on Thursday. Nationalist groups combining to pass the $1 million campaign marker headlined the week, after receiving $51,761 during the reporting period, while federalist TPAs received $103,441, lifting their total to $609,923. Let Alberta Decide once again led the pro-independence TPAs, receiving $33,832 during the week and inching closer to the $607,000 campaign limit. It has raised $581,738 with 18 days left before the referendum. Alberta's Voice, the federalist TPA with the most total disclosed funding, raised $22,070 during the week and upped its campaign total to $287,054. The Conservative Party of Canada's federalist TPA received an additional $21,050 during the week, bringing its total to $32,250 after reporting its first contributions the prior week. Albertans have donated $1.66 million to groups advertising on either side of the Alberta independence referendum question since Premier Danielle Smith announced it on May 21.
