The proponent of a citizen initiative petition calling on Alberta to secede from Canada says his campaign has collected 301,062 signatures in support.
Mitch Sylvestre, the head of Stay Free Alberta, delivered the signature documentation to Elections Alberta headquarters in Edmonton on Monday afternoon, surrounded by a sea of supporters with Alberta flags.
The signatures were gathered over a 120-day period and are to be verified by Elections Alberta within the next 21 days, though that process may be delayed.
Last month, an Alberta justice issued an initial ruling that effectively, but temporarily, blocked Alberta’s chief electoral officer from certifying the results of the petition following arguments from two First Nations that Sylvestre’s petition breached their treaty rights.
A further ruling in that matter is expected to come sometime this week.
The verification process may also be affected by last week’s news of a data breach whereby the provincial electors list was posted on a public, searchable website maintained by a separatist group dubbed the Centurion Project led by Take Back Alberta founder David Parker.
The information included the full names, addresses, contact details, and home electoral divisions of 2.9 million Albertans.
Elections Alberta provides the list to political parties but the list is not to be shared or posted publicly. On Thursday, it secured an injunction prohibiting the Republican Party of Alberta from further accessing or using the list.
Last week, the RCMP said it has opened an investigation and the province’s information and privacy commissioner called on the government to update its privacy laws.
Parker indicated last week that he would respond to the allegations on Monday but so far has addressed only the signature count.
“That is 10 per cent of the entire Alberta voting population and nearly 17 per cent of those who voted in the last election,” he posted on social media site X at 1:09 p.m.
“Alberta is changed forever. Now the next phase begins.”
Stay Free Alberta supporters rally in front of Elections Alberta headquarters in Edmonton on May 4, 2026.
He has previously posted that volunteers used the voters’ list to “find people they know” and claimed they did not have access to phone numbers or emails, and added the group will comply with investigators.
Elections Alberta said amendments made to government legislation last year limited its ability to investigate, though the province disputes that, calling it inaccurate.
Sylvestre’s group was required to get 177,732 signatures and claimed to surpass that mark by the end of March.
October referendums
Sylvestre’s question could be included among nine planned provincewide referendums scheduled for Oct. 19, with Premier Danielle Smith previously indicating she would add the question if enough signatures were gathered and verified.
A citizen initiative petition put forward last year by former deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk that calls for Alberta to remain within Canada gathered over 430,000 signatures in 90 days.
Smith’s government referred the petition to a government-majority committee of MLAs to determine if the petition will also go to a referendum or be voted on inside the legislature by MLAs.
The committee met for a second time Monday morning. Its final report is due either June 8 if the legislature is still sitting, or Nov. 11 if it is not. The latter date is considered more likely given the current spring sitting is set to adjourn for the summer on May 14.
More to come.
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