Recall Gondek leader banned from public libraries for collecting ‘illegal’ signatures

The head of the campaign to recall Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek has been banned from collecting signatures at city buildings.Petition organizer Landon Johnston confirmed to The Western Standard Wednesday morning he was banned from all public libraries in the city after guards told him it is “illegal” to gather names in the facilities.“I wasn’t just escorted from the library, I was banned,” he said.He was meeting this morning to discuss his legal options and said he would provide an update at that time. .“I wasn’t just escorted from the library, I was banned,” he said.Recall Gondek leader Landon Johnston.Johnston stunned Calgary residents earlier this month by launching the city’s first-ever recall petition for any public official, not withstanding that it’s the mayor.Although support for the campaign has been strong, Johnston needs 40% of eligible voters — or more than 500,000 names — to sign the petition forms, in ink, for it to pass.Since then a virtual army of volunteers has been gathering the sheets in places such as shopping malls, parking lots and presumably even public libraries to get the required signatures.In an interview last week, Johnston said he was encouraged by the support but said he isn’t sure how many signatures have been collected to date. That’s because each individual signature sheet or booklet has to be notarized and witnessed by the actual canvasser who collected them.Not only is it a time-consuming and laborious process, it’s also potentially expensive. Johnston noted several public notaries in the city have come forward and offered to do it for free.Last week in an exclusive interview, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith agreed the threshold for recall is too high and would consider making changes to amend the legislation. But she also said she couldn’t realistically make those changes while the recall campaign is underway....more to come

Recall Gondek leader banned from public libraries for collecting ‘illegal’ signatures

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