Forever Canadian petition numbers share a “message of unity”

Sunny South News Photo by Kristine Jean. The Forever Canadian vehicle arriving at Elections Alberta office in Edmonton this morning - at 10:45 a.m.

• Close to 500,000 Albertans sign Forever Canadian petition between July 30  and Oct. 28

By Kristine Jean
Sunny South News

Albertans have spoken and an overwhelming number – more than 450,000 – want to see Alberta remain part of Canada.  

A total of 456,355 signatures were delivered Tuesday morning, Oct. 28, when the Forever Canadian vehicle pulled into the Elections Alberta parking lot in Edmonton, where 500 supporters had gathered, awaiting their arrival. 

Those signatures will now allow the referendum question – “Do you agree Alberta should remain in Canada?”- to be included on a ballot in a provincial referendum.  

“People were singing the national anthem and all the boxes were unloaded from  the vehicle,” said former Lethbridge mayor Chris Spearman, who was one of several southern Albertans in attendance when the signatures were delivered. “After Thomas (Lukaszuk) spoke they were transported into the Elections Alberta building and he brought in the affidavits supporting the signatures.” 

The Alberta Forever Canada citizen initiative was put forth by former Progressive Conservative (PC) deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk in June. The 90-day Forever Canadian campaign, collected more than the required 294,000 signatures across Alberta between July 30 and Oct. 28. 

Signatures had to be collected and submitted to the campaign by Oct. 24, which gave organizers four days to count and verify all the signatures, noted Spearman, who worked with the campaign to collect signatures in Lethbridge and Pincher Creek areas.       

“We’ve got basically 50 per cent more (signatures) than needed. That’s tremendous,” said Spearman. “When you look at that compared to the number of Albertans who actually voted, it’s huge – it’s a vast majority of voting Albertans.”  

In referencing where the signatures were collected, Spearman said there was the same level of commitment to Canada from both rural areas and urban centres, with roughly 50 per cent of signatures coming from the Calgary and Edmonton areas while 50 per cent came from rural Alberta and smaller urban centres, including those like Coaldale, Coalhurst and Picture Butte. 

Town of Coaldale Mayor Jack Van Rijn was one of those 456,355 signatures and was the first person to sign the Forever Canadian petition in Coaldale, when it made a stop in town at the end of August. 

Van Rijn said he was very pleased to see the positive response to the Forever Canadian petition and noted the overwhelming number of signatures is “a powerful message from Albertans.” 

“It shows the strength of our shared commitment to remaining part of Canada,” said Van Rijn. “When I signed the petition back in August, I knew many Albertans felt the same way I did. These numbers prove it – we are proud to be Forever Canadian.”

Spearman said the petition results are a big win for Albertans who want to see the province remain a united part of Canada.   

“It was wonderful to see Albertans of all political stripes signing (the petition). Former premier Ed Stelmach signed, former deputy premier Shirley McClellan, who was Ralph Klein’s deputy premier for quite a few years, signed,” he said. “Conservatives signed, Liberals signed, NDP people signed … It’s tremendous to see Albertans coming together on something. It’s finally a message of unity rather than a message of division.”        

In a press release Tuesday afternoon, Elections Alberta confirmed it received the citizen initiative petition with the required signatures, and will verify the petition within the next 60 days, by December 27, 2025. 

After completing the petition verification, Elections Alberta will post the (petition) results on the Elections Alberta website, no later than January 6, 2026. If the petition is successful, Elections Alberta will submit a copy of the policy proposal to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.

Elections Alberta said during the 60-day verification process, staff will contact a sample of electors who have signed the petition to verify their information and signatures, using the contact information recorded on the petition signature sheets.