EDMONTON — Alberta independence supporters controlled Friday's referendum Third Party Advertiser financial contributions reports, with pro-nationalist groups having raised over $412,000 as of Thursday. The weekly reports, submitted by every registered TPA and published by Elections Alberta, showed a total of $488,234.98 donated towards groups advertising for or against at least one of the questions on Alberta's October referendum, $478,604 of which was targeted at the independence question. Keith Wilson and Tanya Clemens's Let Alberta Decide pro-independence group carried the week with an additional $26,444 generated between Thursday and the prior update on July 2, bringing their campaign total to $233,778 since launching on June 19. Alberta's Voice, a federalist group led by political strategist Stephen Carter, gathered the second-most donations among all referendum TPAs during the week, with $18,275 in contributions, upping their campaign total to $44,925 and solidifying them as the "stay" side's top contribution-generating TPA. .In total, the 10 pro-independence TPAs garnered $45,453 in donations during the reporting week, bringing their total to $411,568. Conversely, the three TPAs advocating that Albertans vote for Alberta to remain in Canada collected $20,249, bringing their total to $67,036. Debate over what does and does not constitute referendum advertising prompted Elections Alberta to release a bulletin on July 8 after both nationalist and federalist supporters hurled accusations that opposition groups were violating regulations. "Not every advertisement that touches on the issues that are the subject of a referendum will meet the definition of 'referendum advertising,'" reads an Elections Alberta statement. Their interpretation bulletin says "advertisements" must be directly advocating for a referendum question, and simply touching on a topic does not constitute advertising. .Absent from the weekly reports were the TPAs organized by the groups that pushed for Alberta independence-related referendums. Thomas Lukaszuk's Forever Canadian, which drove a citizen initiative petition campaign on Alberta remaining in Canada, registered as a referendum TPA with Elections Alberta on June 8, but the group has yet to report any financial contributions. Lukaszuk actively fights for Alberta to remain in Canada, including touring around the province and distributing lawn signs; however, he claims his group does not need to disclose financial statements as a referendum TPA because they are not advocating on a referendum question. Forever Canadian reported over $301,811 in donations as part of their petition campaign, which contributed their $12,773 surplus when it ended in October, 2025. .Stay Free Alberta, which drove the petition calling for a binding independence referendum, has also yet to disclose any financial information since registering as a referendum TPA on June 5. The pro-independence group has yet to publicly release their financial donations after submitting its petition, after the initial report submission deadline was postponed to July 3. Stay Free Alberta's organizer, Mitch Sylvestre, told reporters after submitting his petition in May that the group intended to focus its campaign efforts under the Alberta Prosperity Project umbrella. Alberta Prosperity Project has yet to register as a referendum TPA.
