A petition asking Albertans whether the province should remain in Canada is one step closer to being voted on in the legislature. The "Alberta Forever Canada" citizen initiative petition, met its signature requirement, needing 294,000 votes and receiving 456,365, according to their website. It will now move on to the next stages of the Citizen Initiative Act, which involves verifying signatures over the next 60 days, until January 6, 2026. Since the petition was filed under the legislative proposal option — the question will be brought to the legislature for a vote by MLAs rather than through a public referendum, if the signatures are successfully verified. .Thomas Lukaszuk, former Alberta deputy premier, has been the driving force behind the petition.The petition falls under Section 2(3) of the Citizen Initiative Act, which allows Albertans to submit proposals in the form of questions to change either legislation or the Constitution.Their website also claims there were over 10,000 volunteers, with over 5,000 registered canvassers. The petition was originally launched in June. .Lukaszuk announced on X Tuesday, "Today, I submitted 456,365 Albertans’ signatures to Elections Alberta, petitioning the Premier to do the right thing, avoid a divisive and economically harmful referendum, and allow MLAs to vote and reaffirm that Alberta’s future is in Canada.""Alberta is #ForeverCanadian."
