{"id":31723,"date":"2026-05-04T20:30:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T20:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/31723\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T20:30:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T20:30:17","slug":"stay-free-alberta-delivers-301k-signatures-to-edmonton-in-support-of-separation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/31723\/","title":{"rendered":"Stay Free Alberta delivers 301K signatures to Edmonton in support of separation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The proponent of a citizen initiative petition calling on Alberta to secede from Canada says his campaign has collected 301,062 signatures in support.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a data-yga=\"{\" ylinkelement=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/ca.news.yahoo.com\/first-nations-win-initial-stay-224602968.html\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:Last month;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Last month<\/a>, an Alberta justice issued an initial ruling that\u00a0effectively, but temporarily, blocked Alberta\u2019s chief electoral officer from certifying the results of the petition following arguments from two First Nations that Sylvestre\u2019s petition breached their treaty rights.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">A further ruling in that matter is expected to come sometime this week.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The verification process may also be affected by <a data-yga=\"{\" ylinkelement=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/ca.news.yahoo.com\/elections-alberta-investigating-inappropriate-distribution-151552782.html\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:last week\u2019s news;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">last week\u2019s news<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The information included the full names, addresses, contact details, and home electoral divisions of 2.9 million Albertans.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Elections Alberta provides the list to political parties but the list is not to be shared or posted publicly. <a data-yga=\"{\" ylinkelement=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/ca.news.yahoo.com\/elections-alberta-investigating-inappropriate-distribution-151552782.html\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:On Thursday;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">On Thursday<\/a>, it secured an injunction prohibiting the Republican Party of Alberta from further accessing or using the list.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Last week, the RCMP said it has opened an investigation and the province\u2019s information and privacy commissioner <a data-yga=\"{\" ylinkelement=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/ca.news.yahoo.com\/concerning-gap-alberta-privacy-laws-200247485.html\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:called on the government;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">called on the government<\/a> to update its privacy laws.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Parker indicated last week that he would respond to the allegations on Monday but so far has addressed only the signature count.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cThat is 10 per cent of the entire Alberta voting population and nearly 17 per cent of those who voted in the last election,\u201d he posted <a data-yga=\"{\" ylinkelement=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/david_parker\/status\/2051378588159767030\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:on social media site X;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">on social media site X<\/a> at 1:09 p.m.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cAlberta is changed forever. Now the next phase begins.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\" Stay Free Alberta supporters rally in front of Elections Alberta headquarters in Edmonton on May 4, 2026.\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/9af99379a94799ec191065dfd2a82114.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p> Stay Free Alberta supporters rally in front of Elections Alberta headquarters in Edmonton on May 4, 2026.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">He has previously posted that volunteers used the voters\u2019 list to \u201cfind people they know\u201d and claimed they did not have access to phone numbers or emails, and added the group will comply with investigators.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Elections Alberta said amendments made to government legislation last year limited its ability to investigate, though the province disputes that, calling it inaccurate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Sylvestre\u2019s group was required to get 177,732 signatures and claimed to surpass that mark by <a data-yga=\"{\" ylinkelement=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/ca.news.yahoo.com\/alberta-separatists-claim-surpassed-referendum-204336686.html\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:the end of March;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the end of March<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>October referendums<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Sylvestre\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Smith\u2019s government referred the petition to <a data-yga=\"{\" ylinkelement=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/ca.news.yahoo.com\/premature-lukaszuk-wait-address-forever-190020030.html\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:a government-majority committee of MLAs;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">a government-majority committee of MLAs<\/a> to determine if the petition will also go to a referendum or be voted on inside the legislature by MLAs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">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 <a data-yga=\"{\" ylinkelement=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.assembly.ab.ca\/assembly-business\/assembly-dashboard\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:on May 14;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">on May 14<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">More to come.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a data-yga=\"{\" ylinkelement=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/ca.news.yahoo.com\/mailto:mblack@postmedia.com\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:mblack@postmedia.com;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">mblack@postmedia.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Related<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Bookmark our website and support our journalism:\u00a0Don\u2019t miss the news you need to know \u2014 add <a data-yga=\"{\" ylinkelement=\"\" class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/edmontonjournal.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:EdmontonJournal.com;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\">EdmontonJournal.com<\/a>\u00a0and <a data-yga=\"{\" ylinkelement=\"\" class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/edmontonsun.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:EdmontonSun.com;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\">EdmontonSun.com<\/a>\u00a0to your bookmarks and <a data-yga=\"{\" ylinkelement=\"\" class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/edmontonjournal.com\/newsletters\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:sign up for our newsletters here;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\">sign up for our newsletters here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: <a data-yga=\"{\" ylinkelement=\"\" class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/edmontonjournal.com\/subscribe\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:The Edmonton Journal;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\">The Edmonton Journal<\/a>\u00a0| <a data-yga=\"{\" ylinkelement=\"\" class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/edmontonsun.com\/subscribe\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:The Edmonton Sun;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\">The Edmonton Sun<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The proponent of a citizen initiative petition calling on Alberta to secede from Canada says his campaign has&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31724,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[14441,14442,52,8868,13448,14443,714],"class_list":{"0":"post-31723","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edmonton","8":"tag-alberta-prosperity-project","9":"tag-david-parker","10":"tag-edmonton","11":"tag-elections-alberta","12":"tag-mitch-sylvestre","13":"tag-signatures","14":"tag-stay-free-alberta"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31723\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}