Overview
- Elections Alberta issued petition sheets to proponent Mitch Sylvestre and the Alberta Prosperity Project, authorizing signature collection from Jan. 3 to May 2.
- The campaign must gather just under 178,000 verified signatures to force a referendum under Alberta’s citizen-initiative rules.
- The approved question asks: "Do you agree that the province of Alberta should cease to be a part of Canada to become an independent state?"
- Rule changes enacted in December allow reapplication at no charge and bar the chief electoral officer from rejecting proposals over constitutionality or factual accuracy.
- A prior court review by Justice Colin Feasby found an earlier version unconstitutional under the old framework, and Sylvestre’s group says it has thousands of canvassers and more than 240,000 prior pledges to sign.