Leaders behind an Alberta separatist petition say they’ve reached the required number of signatures to trigger a provincial referendum or a legislative vote on the matter.
Jeffrey Rath, legal counsel for Stay Free Alberta, tells Global News the group has reached more than 177,732 signatures — 10 per cent of the total votes cast in the last provincial election.
The petition application proposes a “Referendum relating to Alberta Independence,” applicant Mitch Sylvestre wrote to Elections Alberta.
According to the application, Sylvestre aims to ask Albertans, “Do you agree that the Province of Alberta should cease to be part of Canada to become an independent state?”
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The group began collecting signatures on Jan. 3, and has until May 2 as part of the official petitioning period.
Elections Alberta says it won’t be able to verify the count until that time.
“Once they submit their signature sheets to Elections Alberta we will then count and verify the signatures,” an Elections Alberta spokesperson says in a statement.
“They may choose to hand in their sheets before that date, in which case we could begin our verification process before the posted signature collection end date.”
The province is planning to hold a referendum on several questions on Oct. 19, but it is unclear if the question would be added on that date if the current petition is successful.
The proposal is first forwarded to the lieutenant-governor in council and the wording could be changed to make it clearer for voters.
Sylvestre did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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