Alberta Separatists Get Partial Court Victory in Referendum Petition Case

Demonstrators carrying Alberta flags gather near a truck displaying pro-Alberta sovereignty messages during a rally in Taber, Alta., on June 28, 2026. The Canadian Press/Matthew Bruce

An appeal court has ruled that Elections Alberta can proceed with signature validation of a petition drive demanding a separation referendum, after a lower court ruled the petition unlawful.

Court of Appeal Justice Alice Woolley ruled June 29 that Alberta’s chief electoral officer, Gordon McClure, may begin verifying the petition’s signatures and report the results, but cannot take any further steps to advance the petition pending the appeal.

Woolley wrote that the remainder of the earlier decision quashing the separatist petition “remains in effect” until the appeal is heard.

The ruling marks a partial victory for Alberta separatists. In May, Court of King’s Bench Justice Shaina Leonard ruled against Elections Alberta’s processing of their separation petition, saying it should not have been authorized because the province failed to fulfil its duty to consult First Nations on the potential effects of Alberta’s independence.

Leonard ruled that McClure erred in approving the petition, which organizers said gathered more than 300,000 signatures, well above the required 177,732. She found McClure failed to consider an earlier court ruling that Alberta’s separation from Canada would violate First Nations’ Treaty rights.

Leonard also ruled the Alberta government had a duty to consult the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, Blood Tribe, Piikani Nation and Siksika Nation, which launched the legal challenge in January 2026. However, she denied a separate injunction request from Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation to halt the petition, which cited concerns about racism and misinformation arising from the petition process.

Following Leonard’s decision, Stay Free Alberta appealed the ruling, as did the province of Alberta. Smith said she supports Alberta remaining in Canada but said she was “deeply troubled” by Leonard’s ruling, which she said interferes with the rights of hundreds of thousands of Albertans.

Arguing that the appeal process may take months or years, Smith responded to Leonard’s ruling on May 21 by announcing her government would include a question in an upcoming referendum on whether Alberta should remain in Canada or begin the legal process for a binding vote on separation. Smith’s proposed question differs from the separatists’ referendum question, which asks whether Alberta should “cease to be a part of Canada to become an independent state.”

Alberta Prosperity Project (APP) CEO Mitch Sylvestre, a key leader in the separatist movement who delivered the petitions to Elections Alberta for validation, told The Epoch Times that the decision is “welcome news.”

Sylvestre has called the province’s referendum question referendum question a “disappointment” and framed it as a watered-down version of the original question. Sylvestre said he would speak with APP’s legal counsel Jeffrey Rath later in the day about the latest court decision.

“I’m not really happy with the fact that we’re having to deal with this at all, and I’m not happy about the expense of dealing with it, but I think that’s part of the whole process,” he said.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has called Smith’s decision to add a referendum question to the province’s Oct. 19 referendum ballot a “dangerous bluff.” He said on May 25 that it could “backfire” in a manner similar to the 2016 Brexit vote that saw a slim majority of people vote for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union.

Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre has said his party will campaign this summer in Alberta to promote Canadian unity.