Latest news with #ElectionsAlberta
CTV News
30-05-2025
- Business
- CTV News
‘Reaping what she has sowed': Lukaszuk says premier stoked flames of separatism
Thomas Lukaszuk speaks with Alberta Primetime host Michael Higgins about his efforts to ensure any referendum on separation is framed with a pro-Canada question Former Deputy Premier Thomas Lukaszuk speaks with Alberta Primetime host Michael Higgins about his efforts to ensure any referendum on separation is framed with a pro-Canada question. This interview has been edited for clarity and length. Michael Higgins: You filed an application with Elections Alberta for a petition. What's the question you're pushing and why? Thomas Lukaszuk: I'm of the opinion that if we are going to have a referendum anyway on Alberta's place in Canada, that conversation must be led by Canadians, loyal Canadians, and it must be based on facts, not disinformation. So I chose to ask a question whether you agree that Alberta must remain in Canada and any form of separation must be rejected, to which the answer should be yes. I want to have that kind of a positive, constructive, nation-building conversation, as opposed to a question that, in my opinion, is contrary to First Nations treaties, to our Canadian Constitution, but that is premised on a whole bunch of disinformation. MH: How close are you to a response from Elections Alberta? TL: I think we're very close. We made sure that we did the due diligence to make sure that the application is filed properly, that the question is within the parameters of this never used before legislation, this Private Citizens Initiative Act. I'm expecting Elections Alberta to respond to us in a short order of time and approve the application. MH: You're not alone in this. Pro-separatists are queuing up at as well. What's at stake in this race to be first to land a question? TL: The first question that is asked and properly filed with Elections Alberta is the question that will be asked. You can't have two referenda on a similar or opposite question. So if our question gets approved, I firmly believe that that will be the question on the referendum. The other question, separatist question, simply falls off the ledge. But as I said earlier, I think it is important that we have this constructive talk and actually talk about what would it mean if Alberta somehow was to separate from Canada. I am convinced that the vast majority of Albertans are proud Canadians that want to stay in Canada. There are issues with Ottawa, no matter who is in government in Ottawa, but those issues can be resolved. Most Albertans don't want to even consider separation. I am more considerate about the damage that this conversation is having on Alberta and our Canadian economy. We saw what happened in Quebec during the FLQ crisis. There's a reason why Bank of Montreal has its headquarters in Toronto right now, not in Montreal, and this could be devastating to our internal economy while we live in such a turbulent world. MH: Let's say your application wins out, and it is a pro-Canada question that ends up on the ballot. Where does that leave the Smith government? What kind of position does that put the premier in? TL: It puts her exactly where she belongs. She's finally reaping what she has sewed. She has at least 14 MLAs in her caucus who are openly talking about separatism. So she is now dancing this really awkward, uncomfortable dance where she says, 'I'm pro-Canadian, but at the same time, we have to give separatists a chance to speak out', and she's making the rules easier on them by passing Bill 54. She's playing very dangerous politics and she now will be confronted, and I hope that she will be the first one to sign our petition, the pro-Canadian petition, if she really claims that she is pro-Canadian. But she has another political issue because there are new political formations, new political parties coming about who are very much pro-separation, that are taking away from her UCP support. So her political future, there's a big question mark over it. MH: How much of a battle are you prepared to wage, especially if it is that that the other side comes to the game with a with a pipeline of funding behind it? TL: Separatists have a pipeline of funding, and I know where the pipeline ends. It ends here in Alberta, I have no idea where it starts. That is a good question to ask, but you know what? We will be fundraising. We will be launching a massive campaign. We will have to raise 600,000 signatures in three months. I know that it's doable and I judge it just by the response I'm getting right now. I can't walk down the street right now without somebody saying, 'Good on you. Where do I sign? How do I volunteer?' We're getting a lot of that. The petition will be made available across Alberta in every town, hamlet and county, and I know that Canadians who happen to live in Alberta are eager to sign this particular petition. Our petition will not be won by money but it will be won by the love for Canada. MH: If it is that you don't win out, that it's not a pro-Canada question that's on the referendum ballot, assuming there is a referendum, do you switch gears? If you've got organization, do you then get active against separation? TL: We then will be encouraging all Albertans to vote no to a pro-separatist question, of course, but I don't think it takes a lot of convincing. When I have a 90-year-old lady from a nursing home in Lamont calling me, and I've never met this woman, saying, 'I'm infirm, I'm in a nursing home, but my husband fought in the war, and I want to sign the petition.' When people are this passionate about signing a petition I don't think there is a real competition. But the other side is very vocal, they're very militant, they're well organized. These are the same people that fought us on COVID vaccinations. They have their infrastructure in place, so we will hear a lot from them, but I'm convinced that sanity shall prevail.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
3 Alberta provincial byelections called for June 23
Albertans in three ridings will go to the polls on June 23 after three byelections to fill vacancies were called Monday. Voters will be able to cast their ballots in Edmonton-Ellerslie, Edmonton-Strathcona and Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills. Edmonton-Strathcona has been vacant since Rachel Notley resigned in December. Edmonton-Ellerslie has been without an MLA since Rod Loyola resigned his seat to run in the federal election. The last MLA for Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills, Nathan Cooper, resigned his seat in the assembly earlier this month to become province's new representative to the United States A news release from Elections Alberta notes some key dates for the byelections: Candidate nominations are open currently and will close on June 5 at 2:00 p.m. Advance voting begins on Tuesday, June 17 and ends on Saturday, June 21. On election day, Monday, June 23, all voting places will be open from 9:00am to 8:00pm. Unofficial results will be available after voting closes on election day. Official results will be announced on July 3, at 10:00 a.m. Canadian citizens who are at least 18 years of age or older on the date of the election are eligible to vote if they are an resident of one of the electoral divisions.
CTV News
22-05-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Former Alberta conservative MLA launches petition to stop Alberta separation
Edmonton Watch Former Edmonton MLA and Deputy Premier Thomas Lukaszuk says he has put forward a petition to Elections Alberta about the province staying in Canada.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alberta independence referendum petition must register with election agency
"Alberta's petition has hit the required number of signatures to trigger a referendum," claims the caption of an April 30, 2025 Instagram post. "The issue is now headed to a province-wide vote." The second slide in the image carousel appears to show a petition titled "Alberta separation/Western Alliance" signed by more than 192,000 people. Versions of the claim spread alongside the notion that this many signatures would trigger a referendum on Instagram, Facebook and X, along with posts in French. Simmering appetite for Alberta independence or secession of the western Canadian provinces regained momentum after US President Donald Trump began taunting Canada's sovereignty and proposed making the country the 51st state. AFP previously fact-checked claims that a petition for Alberta's separation had garnered enough support to trigger a referendum, but unlike French-speaking Quebec, an independence question has never gone to a vote in the western province (archived here and here). On April 29, Alberta's government proposed legislation which would overhaul the province's election rules (archived here), including a change potentially redefining the signature threshold as 10 percent of people who voted in the last election for a petition to move to a referendum vote. According to data (archived here) from Elections Alberta, the province's independent election agency, changing the requirement would put the number of signatures to trigger a vote at 176,060. However, the bill that would implement such change has not passed into law and the current requirement for a constitutional change is 20 percent of provincial electors or 587,952 (archived here). Further examination of the petition seen in the social media posts reveals it was posted to and keyword searches show it remains available (archived here). Such a petition, signed online, does not meet the requirements laid out by Elections Alberta. "Initiative petitions must be signed by electors, in ink, on official paper petition sheets," said Robyn Bell, a spokeswoman for the agency, in a May 1 email. "Signatures collected in any other way are not accepted." Petitions must first be presented through a Citizen Initiate Application and once they are approved, a Notice of Initiative Petition is posted to the Elections Alberta website (archived here). At the time of publication, there are no such petitions underway (archived here). The Alberta Prosperity Project group advocating provincial sovereignty released its potential secession referendum question May 12, but said it would not launch a citizen initiative until it had garnered the pledged support of 600,000 people. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said in a May 6 news conference that she does not support separation, but would allow a referendum to take place if a petition received enough signatures. According to a May 8 Angus Reid Institute poll, 19 percent of Albertans would "definitely" vote to leave Canada while 52 percent said they would vote to stay (archived here). Read more of AFP's reporting on misinformation in Canada here.
AFP
14-05-2025
- Politics
- AFP
Alberta independence referendum petition must register with election agency
"Alberta's petition has hit the required number of signatures to trigger a referendum," claims the caption of an April 30, 2025 Instagram post. "The issue is now headed to a province-wide vote." The second slide in the image carousel appears to show a petition titled "Alberta separation/Western Alliance" signed by more than 192,000 people. of the claim spread alongside the notion that this many signatures would trigger a referendum on Instagram, and X, along with posts in French. Image Screenshot of an Instagram post taken May 13, 2025 Image Screenshot of an X post taken May 13, 2025 Simmering appetite for Alberta independence or secession of the western Canadian provinces regained momentum after US President Donald Trump began taunting Canada's sovereignty and proposed making the country the 51st state. AFP previously fact-checked claims that a petition for Alberta's separation had garnered enough support to trigger a referendum, but unlike French-speaking Quebec, an independence question has never gone to a vote in the western province (archived here and here). On April 29, Alberta's government proposed legislation which would overhaul the province's election rules (archived here), including a change potentially redefining the signature threshold as 10 percent of people who voted in the last election for a petition to move to a referendum vote. According to data (archived here) from Elections Alberta, the province's independent election agency, changing the requirement would put the number of signatures to trigger a vote at 176,060. However, has not passed into law and the current requirement for a constitutional change is 20 percent of provincial electors or archived here). Further examination of the petition seen in the social media posts reveals it was posted to and keyword searches show it remains available (archived here). on, signed online, does not meet the requirements laid out by Elections Alberta. "Initiative petitions must be signed by electors, in ink, on official paper petition sheets," said Robyn Bell, a spokeswoman for the agency, in a May 1 email. "Signatures collected in any other way are not accepted." Petitions must first be presented through a Citizen Initiate Application and once they are approved, a Notice of Initiative Petition is posted to the Elections Alberta website (archived here). At the time of publicationunderway (archived here). The Alberta Prosperity Project group advocating provincial sovereignty released its potential secession referendum question May 12, but said it would not launch a citizen initiative until it had garnered the pledged support of 600,000 people. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said in a May 6 news conference that she does not support separation, but would allow a referendum to take place if a petition received enough signatures. According to a May 8 Angus Reid Institute poll, 19 percent of Albertans would "definitely" vote to leave Canada while 52 percent said they would vote to stay (archived here). Read more of AFP's reporting on misinformation in Canada here.
