EDMONTON — The UCP's plans to hold a referendum on Alberta remaining in Canada, based on the Forever Canadian petition, hit a speed bump on Wednesday after a premature press release from their caucus left the petition review committee without time to pass a motion of recommendation.UCP MLA and Minister of Technology and Innovation Nate Glubish introduced a motion during Wednesday's Select Special Citizen Initiative Proposal Review Committee meeting, calling on the committee to recommend that the cabinet refer Thomas Lukaszuk's petition to a referendum on Oct. 19.The committee was limited in its ability to debate the motion during the meeting, though after a UCP caucus staffer accidentally distributed a press release announcing that the motion had already been passed.Alberta NDP MLA Christina Gray, who was observing the meeting, immediately raised a point of privilege after being notified of the release, prompting a short recess that consumed the remainder of the committee's allocated meeting time.The point of privilege argued that the premature press release, which contained quotes from committee chair MLA Brandon Lunty, interfered with the committee's rights to engage in the debate.Lunty agreed with the point of privilege; however, the UCP lead committee voted 3-2 against referring the matter to House Speaker Ric McIver, which would have delayed them until after McIver had the opportunity to assess the events and rule further.A vote on the motion to refer the petition for a referendum was postponed to the committee's next meeting on Thursday at 2:30 p.m..Details of the motion include that the committee's report be tabled with a recommendation for Lukaszuk's policy petition to be referred for the purpose of a referendum on Oct. 19, and that "the question to be put to the electors in the referendum include an option for Albertans to vote for Alberta to remain in Canada." Lukaszuk's petition application called for a referendum asking, "Do you agree that Alberta should remain in Canada?" Under the Citizen Initiative Act, Justice Minister Mickey Amery will have the authority to rewrite the question in a manner that he feels will ensure that "The constitutional referendum will result in a clear expression of the will of the electors. And, the question is otherwise suitable to be put to the electors at a constitutional referendum.".Lukaszuk was given the chance to appear before the committee on Wednesday, before Glubish proposed the recommendation motion. He spent the vast majority of his time explaining that he never intended to trigger a referendum with the petition, and that he filed it in June 2025 to block a potential pro-independence petition. UCP committee members spent their time debunking his claims that he never intended it to trigger a referendum, though by bringing up many prior quotes in which Lukaszuk referred to his petition as leading to a referendum. “I have filed an application with Elections Alberta to have a petition in Alberta on that question," reads a May 2025 CTV interview quote from Lukaszuk cited by the UCP. "And if we get enough signatures, which I have no doubt in my mind that we will, we will have a referendum in this province, but not about separating, about staying in Canada.” Those remarks were a significant point of why the UCP committee members said the Albertans who signed the petition did so expecting a referendum on Alberta remaining in Canada, and proposed a motion to give them their referendum."The committee's job is to determine whether or not 400,000 plus Albertans legitimately signed a petition asking for a referendum on whether or not they wanted to remain in Canada," said Minister of Assisted Living and Social Services Jason Nixon. "There's no doubt that's what took place. There's no doubt those signatures are valid. It is certainly the position of myself and my fellow committee members that those voices need to be respected." .Alberta NDP Leader Rakhi Pancholi, who sits on the committee, questioned the sincerity of the UCP's intentions, though, especially after the press release was released before they could even debate the motion. "We got into this meeting, and we discovered that they had already predetermined the outcome of this meeting," said Pancholi to reporters after the meeting. "They predetermined that the committee would pass a motion using the Forever Canada petition as part of the question for a separatism referendum.""What this means is what we have known all along, the UCP is a separatist party. They were determined to have a referendum on separatism for the past year, and they've done everything they could to make sure that that happens."Lukaszuk said the UCP are free to call for an independence referendum if they wish, regardless of his petition, but he emphasized that he is not the one calling for a referendum. "It's up to the government to decide whether they want to have a referendum or not," said Lukaszuk to reporters. "They don't need my permission, but as we saw in this committee, they really were trying hard to get me to answer their question and give it as if it was a permission to have a referendum. "As it turns out, it didn't matter what I said; they already had a press release congratulating themselves on the fact that they won a vote and will have a referendum anyhow." Premier Danielle Smith is reportedly scheduled to deliver a public speech to Albertans Thursday evening, in which she is anticipated to declare that the question on Alberta remaining in Canada will be on the October referendum ballot.
