Forever Canadian committee asks premier to include separation question on referendum ballot

Members of Danielle Smith’s United Conservative (UCP) caucus have passed a motion asking her to include a question about separation on Alberta’s fall referendum ballot.

The recommendation came Thursday afternoon following a vote by the UCP majority special committee reviewing Thomas Lukaszuk’s “Forever Canadian” petition.

The four UCP members of the committee voted to move the issue to the premier and her cabinet.

Smith is set to make a televised address Thursday evening amid speculation she could announce a referendum on separation.

READ: Forever Canadian committee meeting ends in chaos after UCP release sent in error

The result of the vote was hardly a surprise after the UCP caucus prematurely sent out a news release Wednesday — before voting had even taken place — announcing it was recommending the government include a question on separation.

That error, which the UCP blamed on a staffer, was met with sharp criticism from NDP Opposition members, who described it as an affront to democracy and said it tainted the integrity of the process.

Wednesday’s meeting ended without a vote on whether to proceed to a referendum.

Prior to voting Thursday, NDP deputy leader and committee member Rakhi Pancholi accused the UCP of concealing ulterior motives.

“It quite clear that this motion that’s on the table right now has nothing to with listening to the 400,000 people who signed the petition,” Pancholi said. “This motion is on the floor right now because the government needs cover. They need a justification to fulfill the promise that the premier made to her separatist friends who got her elected as leader of the UCP.”

“And that promise was a referendum. And when they couldn’t get the question that they wanted on the floor because of the courts, because of the Constitution and the duty to consult, that is when this government suddenly cares.”

Lukaszuk’s pro‑federalist petition secured more than 400,000 verified signatures in December. The petition asks Albertans: “Do you agree that Alberta should remain within Canada?”

He has been seeking to have his petition voted on by MLAs in the legislature rather than go to a referendum.

Meanwhile, Stay Free Alberta submitted its own separatist petition earlier this month, claiming nearly 302,000 names, well above the 178,000 required. However, a judge threw out the petition last week, ruling the provincial government had failed to consult First Nations.

Premier Danielle Smith has previously said that if a petition meets the signature threshold, its question would be placed on the fall ballot.

–With files from The Canadian Press