{"id":326366,"date":"2025-12-05T05:17:17","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T05:17:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/326366\/"},"modified":"2025-12-05T05:17:17","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T05:17:17","slug":"alberta-bill-aims-to-clear-further-obstacles-to-citizen-driven-referendum-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/326366\/","title":{"rendered":"Alberta bill aims to clear further obstacles to citizen-driven referendum questions"},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Alberta\u00a0government is clearing more legal hurdles faced by citizens aiming to put referendum questions on a ballot, including the prospect of leaving Confederation.<\/p>\n

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If passed, a\u00a0bill\u00a0tabled Thursday would halt a court proceeding on a pro-separatist referendum question that is awaiting a judicial decision, essentially giving the proponents a fresh start.<\/p>\n

Justice Minister Mickey Amery told reporters the\u00a0bill\u00a0isn\u2019t being put forward specifically because of that case, but those behind the separation question would be permitted to reapply at no cost.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u2018Forever Canadian\u2019 petition surpasses goal, collects 456K signatures\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Amery said it could be thought of as a \u201creset,\u201d as the government doesn\u2019t want to see citizens looking to participate in the democratic system be slowed down by the courts.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIf those seeking independence believe that they have the support for it, this is their chance to prove it,\u201d said Amery.<\/p>\n

The referendum proposal in question, put forward earlier this year by the separatist group the\u00a0Alberta\u00a0Prosperity Project, was proposed as: \u201cDo you agree that the Province of\u00a0Alberta\u00a0shall become a sovereign country and cease to be a province in Canada?\u201d<\/p>\n

It was referred to the courts by Alberta\u2019s chief electoral officer to determine whether the question was constitutional \u2014 a move Amery and Premier Danielle Smith had denounced as premature.<\/p>\n

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The legislation would prevent the chief electoral officer from referring future proposals to the courts, while giving that power to the minister.<\/p>\n

It also gives the minister the ability to recommend changes to the wording of referendum questions before they\u2019re sent to voters, and it states that the government isn\u2019t bound by the results of referendums if the questions aren\u2019t constitutional or go beyond Alberta\u2019s legislative jurisdiction.<\/p>\n

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The\u00a0bill\u00a0also removes a previous rule that referendums on the same or similar subjects couldn\u2019t be held within five years of each other.<\/p>\n

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Amery said the legislation won\u2019t affect a pro-Confederation petition certified earlier this week that seeks to make it official policy the province will not leave Canada.<\/p>\n

The UCP could call a referendum on the question, put forward by former deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk, or, as he has said he would prefer, simply adopt the proposal as policy moving forward.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tFormer Alberta deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk surrounded by supporters of his Forever Canadian petition, which aims to make it official policy for Alberta to stay in the country. Oct. 3. 2025.\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019m clearing the way for anybody from any political stripe or any ideology or any position to be able to put that question to Albertans,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mitch Sylvestre, the chief executive of the\u00a0Alberta\u00a0Prosperity Project and a United Conservative Party constituency association president, said Thursday the legislation is a \u201cvery big victory for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019re really very happy if it lives up to the spirit of what it\u2019s intended to do: give us the opportunity to put the question to the people and gather signatures.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sylvestre said they were confident they would have won the court case, but he is grateful and excited to re-apply to start a petition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe minute we can do it, it will be done,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He added they aim to surpass the more than 400,000 signatures Lukaszuk\u2019s garnered.<\/p>\n

The proposed changes come after Smith\u2019s government, earlier this year, lowered the signature requirements for citizen initiated referendums while also increasing the length of time petitioners have to collect the necessary signatures to get a question on a ballot.<\/p>\n

Opposition NDP Deputy Leader Rakhi Pancholi told reporters the legislation demonstrates that when the UCP feels threatened, they will change the law to suit themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t imagine how any Albertan can have trust in this government, in the processes they\u2019ve laid out, as they keep changing them to suit their own purposes,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t believe in the courts,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFormer UCP MLAs joining Alberta Party, planning rebrand\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The legislation would also make other wide-ranging electoral changes, including rules aimed at preventing long ballot protests and restricting new political party names.<\/p>\n

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Party naming restrictions throw cold water on the efforts of two former UCP members, along with the\u00a0Alberta\u00a0Party, to establish a new iteration of the Progressive Conservative Party by retroactively preventing such a moniker from being used.<\/p>\n

The legislation lists \u201cdistinctive\u201d words and phrases that new parties will be prohibited from using, including communist, conservative, democratic, green, independent, liberal, reform, republican and wildrose.<\/p>\n

Amery said it\u2019s a non-partisan change being done to avoid confusing voters, and he alleged that some are purposely trying to deceive voters by using phrases like those listed.<\/p>\n

He argued it\u2019s not a marked change from previous election law, but brings clarity so that a new party can\u2019t seek to register names like the \u201cNew Liberals\u201d or the \u201cGreenest Party.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to make sure that the people who are voting are casting their ballots for not only the party that they believe in, but the political ideology that they believe in as well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Peter Guthrie, one of the former UCP members looking to revive the Progressive Conservative brand, told reporters Thursday that he found it astonishing the government would go as far as legislating roadblocks to stop his efforts.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLaw society of Alberta hearing into former cabinet minister concludes\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis is for their political survival,\u201d Guthrie, who now sits as an Independent, said of the government. \u201c(Smith) realizes how dangerous a moderate, fiscally conservative party is for them, and that\u2019s what we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guthrie said he and his fellow Independent MLA Scott Sinclair will be going back to the drawing board for a new name, but said for now: \u201cYou can call us, I don\u2019t know, the Progressive Redacted Party.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another change proposed in the\u00a0bill\u00a0is to give Alberta\u2019s justice minister immunity from sanctions from the Law Society of\u00a0Alberta, which regulates lawyers, for any actions they perform \u201cas part of their official duties.\u201d<\/p>\n

Government officials told reporters Thursday the legislation doesn\u2019t define the minister\u2019s \u201cofficial duties.\u201d<\/p>\n

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 4, 2025.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPoilievre calls \u2018longest ballot\u2019 protest in his new riding a \u2018scam\u2019\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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