Alberta's Chief Electoral Officer, Gordon McClure, has released a citizen's initiative petition regarding the following question: "Should the Government of Alberta end its current practice of allocating public funds to accredited independent (private) schools?"McClure, had approved the petition last week but has now authorized the appointment of a Chief Financial Officer for the petition, which is required before releasing it for signatures. Alicia Taylor submitted the proposal under Section 2(3) of the Citizen Initiative Act, which allows Canadian citizens to submit proposals in the form of questions to change either legislation or the Constitution.Taylor, is a high school science teacher with the Calgary Board of Education."I think it's wrong to have the highest rate of funding for private schools in a province where we have the lowest rate of funding for public schools," the Calgary teacher told CBC..Taylor is also a Calgary City District Representative for the Alberta Teachers' Association's (ATA) Provincial Executive Council, which sets ATA policies and practices. Taylor was given seven days to appoint a Chief Financial Officer, and Elections Alberta has now released the petition.With this, the next steps include Taylor, gathering registered canvassers to collect signatures for the petition. For the petition to be considered successful, it must get at least 10% of the total number of votes cast in the previous provincial general election..Since the last provincial election was in 2023, 10% of the total number of votes required is 177,732 for it to be considered by the government to bring forward "a motion to have the proposal referred to a committee of the Legislative Assembly."The signature collection for the petition will end on February 11, 2026. Elections Alberta will then verify the submission within 21 days and will post the results on their website. If considered, it will either be made into a report recommending a bill be introduced, or into a report recommending the Chief Electoral Officer commence an initiative vote, where Albertans will decide whether public funds should be given to private schools.
