Subhead:Smith introduced the Election Statutes Amendment Act, which permits 208,000 voters to put the question of Alberta independence on the ballot.#
Though Premier Danielle Smith does not endorse separation, a newly tabled bill makes citizen-initiated referendum on leaving Canada feasible.
“Is the door still open to Alberta separating?” a reporter asked yesterday. “I believe in Alberta’s sovereignty within a united Canada,” she said.
“However,” the premier clarified, “there is a citizen-initiated referendum process that if citizens want to put a question on a ballot and get enough of their fellow citizens to sign that petition, then those questions will be put forward again.”
Smith said she did not wish to presuppose what a question might be, but clarified her government would not table a motion on separation. “Not by our government.”
“Not by me,” Premier Smith says, emphasizing that separation is not on the table for the UCP, though citizen initiatives may bring independence to the forefront. pic.twitter.com/nS7QNAW8tf
— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) April 29, 2025
The Alberta government introduced the Election Statutes Amendment Act, Tuesday afternoon, containing a significant reform to establish a feasible process for a citizen-initiated referendum on Alberta separation.
The bill slashes the threshold under the Citizen Initiative Act—a law that allowed referendums on policy and constitutional matters, but until now, came with a signature requirement so high it was dead on arrival.
Before? You needed signatures from 20% of all eligible voters in Alberta—more than 600,000 people in 90 days.
Now? The bar has been lowered to 10% of the number of voters who cast ballots in the last general election—just over 208,000 names.
