A trailer lined with boxes of signed petitions calling for a referendum on Alberta separation were dropped off at Elections Alberta Monday afternoon.
The Stay Free Alberta petitioners say they have collected 301,620 signatures, well over the 178,000 threshold that can prompt the province to consider a referendum question.
Supporters gathered outside Elections Alberta alongside a convoy of vehicles with Alberta flags flying celebrating the milestone for the group.
Mitch Sylvestre, head of Stay Free Alberta, said the number is a clear signal that should prompt the addition of a question on separation on the October referendum ballot.
“This process shows that Albertans are engaged and this is an issue people want to have a say on,” he said Monday.
Sylvestre read out loud a letter to Premier Danielle Smith to the crowd.
“We look forward to your government receiving this clear expression of the democratic will of Albertans and advancing the next steps.”
He said about 1,500 signatures remain in transit due to problems with Canada Post — those were not included in their final count.
Smith has previously said she’d put the question to a referendum if enough signatures are collected and verified.
But that verification process won’t start right away, after an Alberta judge put it on pause while she considers a court challenge from a group of Alberta First Nations, arguing the petition violates treaty rights.
Stay Free Alberta lawyer Jeff Rath says that process is irrelevant because politically, the premier can’t ignore hundreds of thousands of signatures.
“As far as we’re concerned, whatever the court does or whatever Elections Alberta does at this point is meaningless,” Rath said in a Monday morning interview.
A pro-unity ‘Forever Canadian’ petition had 404,293 signatures verified in December. That citizen initiative wants the government to consider making it official policy for Alberta to remain a part of Canada.
The petition’s conclusion comes on the heels of an investigation and court injunction, after another separatist group posted a database with Albertans’ personal information using the provincial electoral list.
Rath told CBC that Stay Free Alberta was not involved. But one expert told CBC the availability of the voter list raises concerns about verifying petitions.
“I think that the data breach means that there will be a lot of questions about the integrity of that list of signatures,” University of Alberta political science professor Lori Thorlakson told CBC.
“Were they gathered correctly? Has improper use been made of that electoral list? Can all of these signatures be verified?”
Once it is allowed to do so, Elections Alberta will confirm the signature sheets have no duplication and they were correctly witnessed. It will also do random sampling to confirm those signing provided correct information and live in Alberta.
Gordon McClure, chief electoral officer, has said that process will now also include a search for fake names seeded in copies of voter lists — designed as a mechanism to prove if improper use of the electoral list has been used.
Rath said his group’s signature collection was above board.
“Our process … was pristine from start to finish,” he said. “Every one of our canvassers was badged and numbered. Every person signing the petition had ID.”
