Recall Nicolaides petition struggles to gather signatures as the collection deadline looms

EDMONTON — The organizer of the petition to recall Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides said on Tuesday that she has collected fewer than 40% of the required signatures, as her Jan. 21 collection deadline approaches. Jennifer Yeremiy, a resident of Nicolaides' Calgary-Bow riding, told The Canadian Press on Tuesday that she has gathered 6,000 signatures on her petition to trigger a recall election for Nicolaides's role as MLA for the area, which would require 16,006 signatures to be successful. "I certainly didn't go into this work believing that this was a slam dunk," said Yeremiy to the CP. According to the CP article, Yeremiy believe the petition will be successful regardless of the number of signatures because it has engaged people in politics..Yeremiy previously stated that she was unhappy with Nicolaides's decisions as Minister of Education and that her decision to launch a recall petition followed her joining AB Resistance, a political activist group."As a parent and geoscientist, it was very disturbing to learn from my MLA and Minister of Education in early 2024 that my legitimate curricula concerns, and the concerns of the majority of teachers, staff, and parents in this province, do not matter to him. Rather that he takes his directions from above," a statement from Yeremiy reads in a blog post on her podcast's website.“It wasn’t long after learning this that I joined ABR to understand the recall legislation. Using it to support teachers, students, and staff in standing against impossible circumstances, created by the Education Minister and my MLA, is the right thing to do.”.Nicolaides has defended himself against these claims throughout the process."The fact that the petition is on track to fail is clear proof that it is meritless, as had been my position all along," reads a comment from Nicolaides.While there is an uphill battle remaining for the group against him, Nicolaides is not declaring a victory yet."I recognize there are still two weeks left in the process and I await the final results," his comment reads..Recall petitions loomed over the most recent Alberta Legislative Assembly session, as 24 UCP caucus members are currently facing a recall petition, compared to just two NDP MLAs. The UCP has consistently criticized these numbers, citing them as evidence that the campaigns were driven by union groups and left-wing activists who were abusing the democratic process that recall legislation was intended to protect. Yeremiy's petition will be the first to close, with the others scheduled to end their signature-collection periods between late February and the end of March. Each petition will need a total number of verified signatures equal to 60% of the votes cast in the riding in the 2023 provincial election, or more, to trigger a recall election.

Recall Nicolaides petition struggles to gather signatures as the collection deadline looms

Related Stories