EDMONTON — Forever Canadian leader Thomas Lukaszuk claims the question related to Alberta independence on the October referendum ballot is not his, and he says Premier Danielle Smith will have to address his petition eventually. "You know, the silly question she's posing is neither our question,” said Lukaszuk on Wednesday's episode of Real Talk with Ryan Jespersen. “It's not a citizens initiative act question. It's not the separatist question.”"She's putting this question on which we refuse to take a position because it's a referendum to have a referendum. It doesn't meet the Clarity Act requirements at all. It's a political game." .In December 2025, Elections Alberta verified Forever Canadian's citizen initiative petition for a policy proposal asking, "Do you agree that Alberta should remain in Canada?" Lukaszuk sent mixed messaging throughout the petition process about the intent of his petition, sometimes claiming that his group wanted a referendum on their questions, and other times saying that they wanted a vote in the legislature. In May, a UCP-led legislative committee determined that it should trigger a referendum, and recommended that the Government of Alberta call for a referendum based on Lukaszuk's question. Hours later, Smith announced that in October Albertans will be asked, "Should Alberta remain a province of Canada, or should the Government of Alberta commence the legal process required under the Canadian Constitution to hold a binding provincial referendum on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada?" .Smith has said the referendum question is based on Forever Canadian's question, but with clarification about what a "no" vote would mean. Lukaszuk is not satisfied, though, and he said Elections Alberta agrees with him that the current referendum question does not address the Forever Canadian petition. "So instead, as Forever Canadian, we are focusing on unity, and still hoping that the premier will pull," Lukaszuk said. "She still has a lot of time to pull her question, and she still has to make a decision on what she is going to do with the Forever Canadian question." Individuals have accused Smith of using Forever Canadian's petition as an outlet to give independence supporters a referendum after Stay Free Alberta's pro-Alberta independence citizen initiative petition was quashed in May. However, even if she did use the Forever Canadian petition as an outlet, some nationalists are not satisfied with the question either. “Their position is, ‘Premier, since you so frivolously put any question you want on a referendum, why don't you put our question, being the separatist question, on a referendum?’ and she refuses to do that as well,” Lukaszuk said. “So it's really odd for a premier who claims to be a big supporter of direct democracy and a Premier who committed herself to the Citizen Initiative Act, saying, 'As soon as you get the number of signatures, your question goes on a referendum.’ Now she has two petitions that have been verified, and she refuses to put either question onto a referendum.”.In the meantime, Lukaszuk said Forever Canadian will campaign on "unity" and the importance of being Canadian, but not the current referendum question. "I think there's still a possibility that the premier will replace that question with another question," Lukaszuk said. "But also, I don't want to validate that question. That question is not a referendum question. It's a question whether you want to have a question, and it isn't our Forever Canadian question." Lukaszuk claims his petition will be addressed eventually. "She still will have to deal with our question one way or another; there is no way out for her on that," Lukaszuk said. "But when will she do it? Who knows. She's hoping that this issue goes away, and this is really not about the outcome of a referendum."
