{"id":15940,"date":"2026-05-05T11:41:35","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T03:41:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=15940"},"modified":"2026-05-05T11:41:39","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T03:41:39","slug":"alberta-separatist-group-says-it-has-enough-signatures-to-trigger-referendum-vote-on-leaving-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=15940","title":{"rendered":"Alberta separatist group says it has enough signatures to trigger referendum vote on leaving Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"512\" src=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-15941\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1-2.jpg 768w, https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1-2-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Calgary Princess Breanna Correia, left, walks with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at the chuck wagon races during the Calgary Stampede on Friday, July 4, 2025, in Calgary, Alberta. (Photo by Amy Harris\/Invision\/AP)\u00a9\u00a0AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>EDMONTON, Alberta \u2014 Alberta separatists said Monday they have formally submitted almost 302,000 signatures to try to trigger a referendum on the province leaving Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The group needed 178,000 signatures to force the province to consider such a vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The question of separation could go on a provincewide ballot as early as October, as Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has said she would move forward if enough names are gathered and verified. Smith has said she personally does not support the oil-rich province leaving Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A yes vote would not trigger independence automatically. Negotiations with the federal government would have to take place and Daniel B\u00e9land, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal, said some Indigenous groups who are already using the courts to prevent an independence referendum would use venues including the courts to stop independence from happening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mitch Sylvestre, the head of Stay Free Alberta, arrived at the Elections Alberta office in Edmonton on Monday leading a convoy of seven trucks to deliver the names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis day is historic in Alberta history,\u201d Sylvestre said. \u201cIt\u2019s the first step to the next step \u2014 we\u2019ve gotten by Round 3 and now we\u2019re in the Stanley Cup final.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He said most papers were handled five times to verify the signatures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>More than 300 supporters gathered, waving the provincial flag and chanting \u201cAlberta strong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, the petition could face another hurdle this week as an Edmonton, Alberta judge is expected to rule on a court challenge launched by a group of Alberta First Nations who say Alberta separation would violate treaty rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Smith has accused previous federal Liberal governments of introducing legislation that hamstrings Alberta\u2019s ability to produce and export oil, which she said has cost the province billions of dollars. She also said she doesn\u2019t want the federal government meddling in provincial issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Prime Minister Mark Carney\u2019s federal government did not immediately respond to the development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>B\u00e9land, the political science professor at McGill, said a referendum is likely to lose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cRight now, support for independence in Alberta is rather low. Less than 30% and much lower if we only focus on hard core supporters. And the odds of a victory of the pro-independence camp appear to be low at this stage,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>B\u00e9land also said considering recent news of a large data breach involving an Alberta separatist group, the formal verification process is especially crucial to make sure the signatures are authentic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMark Carney is indeed popular, even in Alberta. The push for independence by some Albertans predates his prime ministership and it\u2019s related to economic, fiscal, and political grievances about the seemingly unfair treatment of Alberta by the federal government,\u201d he said. \u201cThese concerns increased during the Justin Trudeau years but they have peaked and even declined since he left office.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>EDMONTON, Alberta \u2014 Alberta separatists said Monday they have formally submitted almost 302,000 signatures to try to trigger a referendum on the province leaving Canada. The group needed 178,000 signatures to force the province to consider such a vote. The question of separation could go on a provincewide ballot as early as October, as Alberta [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":15941,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[4119,4120,4121],"class_list":["post-15940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-usa","tag-alberta","tag-calgary","tag-signatures"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Alberta separatist group says it has enough signatures to trigger referendum vote on leaving Canada - LISTEN WORLD<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=15940\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Alberta separatist group says it has enough signatures to trigger referendum vote on leaving Canada - LISTEN WORLD\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"EDMONTON, Alberta \u2014 Alberta separatists said Monday they have formally submitted almost 302,000 signatures to try to trigger a referendum on the province leaving Canada. The group needed 178,000 signatures to force the province to consider such a vote. 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