Separatists in Alberta declared they now have enough signatures to trigger a vote on the province’s departure from Canada.
The Stay Free Alberta group said Monday it had formally submitted nearly 302,000 signatures after needing 178,000 names to force the province to consider such a ballot measure. The separation issue could come to a provincewide vote as early as October, as Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has said she would move forward once enough names have been collected and verified.
“This day is historic in Alberta history,” Mitch Sylvestre, the head of Stay Free Alberta, said Monday as he arrived at the Elections Alberta office in Edmonton and led a convoy of seven trucks to deliver the names. “It’s the first step to the next step – we got through the third round and now we’re in the Stanley Cup Final.”
Smith has said she does not personally support the oil-rich province leaving Canada, but she has accused previous federal Liberal governments of introducing legislation that hampered Alberta’s ability to produce and export oil, which she said has cost the province billions of dollars, and noted she does not want the federal government to get involved in provincial issues, according to The Associated Press.
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Supporters carry boxes of signatures to register for a divorce referendum for the Alberta election in Edmonton on May 4, 2026. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press)
More than 300 supporters gathered in Edmonton on Monday, waving the provincial flag and chanting “Alberta strong.”
A ‘yes’ vote would not automatically lead to independence, as negotiations with the federal government would then have to take place.
Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal, told the AP that despite independence efforts, Liberal Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney “is indeed popular, even in Alberta.”
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Mitch Sylvestre, the head of Stay Free Alberta, holds boxes of signatures before submitting them for a divorce referendum for the Alberta election in Edmonton on May 4, 2026. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press)
“The push for independence by some Albertans predates his premiership and is linked to economic, fiscal and political grievances over the federal government’s apparent unfair treatment of Alberta,” Béland said. “These concerns increased during the Justin Trudeau years, but they have peaked and even declined since he left office.”
Béland added that some indigenous groups who already use the courts to prevent an independence referendum would use venues, including the courts, to prevent independence.
Mitch Sylvestre submits signatures for a divorce referendum before Elections Alberta in Edmonton on May 4, 2026, as supporters wave flags behind him. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press)
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The referendum petition could hit a hurdle this week as an Edmonton judge is expected to rule on a lawsuit from Alberta First Nations that says separation would violate treaty rights.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
