EDMONTON — Stay Free Alberta CEO Mitch Sylvestre intends to file an appeal to remove the court order stay that is preventing Elections Alberta from verifying his Alberta independence petition until after a judicial review of the decision to issue the petition is completed.Justice Shaina Leonard issued a stay order on April 10 until she makes a ruling in a review of claims filed by two First Nations against Elections Alberta, Sylvestre, and the Government of Alberta. Sylvestre's legal counsel, Jefrey Rath, announced his client’s intention to file the appeal on Thursday. .Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation and the Blackfoot Confederacy told Leaonard that the Chief Electoral Office misinterpreted legislation when they felt obligated to issue Sylvestre a second Alberta independence petition after a judge dismissed his initial one in December. Bill 14 allows a referendum petition regardless of whether the question is constitutional, and the CEO believed that amendments to the Citizen Initiative Act required him to issue Sylvestre a second petition, despite a judge already ruling that a referendum on Alberta independence would be unconstitutional.Counsels for Sylvester, the Government of Alberta, and the CEO told Leonard there was no misinterpretation. The bill was written as intended, and the UCP government had the opportunity to clarify the wording before passing the legislation if they believed it was necessary. Leonard granted the First Nations' application for a stay because she wanted to prevent the petition from being submitted and expedited before she could complete her full judicial review, which she is expected to do "within a month." .Stay Free Alberta submitted its petition to Elections Alberta on Monday after Sylvestre's group gathered 301,620 signatures. They need 177,732 verified signatures to successfully trigger a referendum question asking Alberta, "Do you agree that the Province of Alberta should cease to be part of Canada to become an independent state?" Elections Alberta could begin counting and verifying signatures once Leonard lifts the stay. Albertans will likely get to vote on whether Alberta should remain in Canada during the October referendum, regardless of whether Leonard dismisses Stay Free Alberta. Former Deputy Premier Thomas Lukaszuk already has a successful policy petition calling for a referendum asking, "Do you agree Alberta should remain in Canada?" A committee of MLAs has been charged with determining whether his petition should trigger a policy vote in the Alberta legislature or a referendum vote. Premier Danielle Smith has stated that it should be the latter. Smith has set a soft verification deadline of "early July" for a petition question to be added to the October referendum.
