Forever Canadian canvasser Cathy Wilcox, left, sits with Lorraine Shelp, who signed the petition Sept. 3 in High Prairie.
(Edmonton) – A province-wide petition to advocate for Alberta remaining part of Canada has collected more than 455,000.
“On Oct. 28, after 90 days of incredible effort, our grassroots Forever Canadian campaign officially submitted signatures from 456,365 Albertans to Elections Alberta, says former Progressive Conservative MLA and deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk on the Forever Canadian website.
Albertans were invited to sign the petition in person only with one simple question.
“Do you agree that Alberta should remain in Canada?”
To qualify the petition, Forever Canadian required 300,000 verified signatures in just 90 days by the Oct. 20 deadline.
“This is an historic victory for every Albertan who believes in a strong, united and prosperous future for our province inside of Canada,” Lukaszuk says.
“Pundits were skeptical – opponents were loud – they called it impossible.”
Lukaszuk says he’s requesting Premier Danielle Smith to ask Alberta MLAs to vote on the issue and “put separatism to bed once and for all”.
The petition must follow rules of Elections Alberta that will also verify signatures in the next two months. If the threshold is met by that date, a referendum question can proceed.
The campaign visited the High Prairie, Falher-McLennan and Peace River regions over the summer.
High Prairie canvasser Cathy Wilcox says Alberta definitely belongs.
“Canada is a great country and Alberta should never split from Canada,” Wilcox says.
Peace River canvasser Wanda Laurin agrees.
“The petition is meant for Albertans who believe in the power of staying in Canada,” she says.
Falher-McLennan canvasser Avis Gagne expected such overwhelming support.
“I am confident the petition will gather far more signatures than the 300,000,” Gagne said while making the petition available in the summer.
Elections Alberta chief electoral officer Gordon McClure and his team will have 60 days – until Dec. 27 – to verify the petition which includes validating signature sheets like electors’ names, addresses, signatures and dates.
A random sample will be taken to confirm the signatories’ addresses are in Alberta and random signatories will be called to confirm they signed the petition.
The method will be used to reach a 95 per cent confidence level.
Results will be publicly available no later than Jan. 6, 2026.
Alberta belongs in Canada, the campaign website states.
The historic citizen-initiated petition gave Albertans a clear voice to affirm it.
Talk of separation, even as a negotiating tactic, or as a step toward joining the United States, creates damaging uncertainty. It chills investment, drives away talent and deepens social divisions at home.
The longer the question lingers, the higher the economic and community cost to Albertans and for Canada, say Forever Canadian supporters.
Richard Froese
South Peace News