While the rest of Canada woke up hungover to a Liberal minority under Prime Minister Mark Carney, Alberta soberly took the first legal step toward the exit door.

Tuesday afternoon, Premier Danielle Smith’s government introduced the Election Statutes Amendment Act, 2025—and buried inside it is the most explosive reform in decades: a realistic path to a citizen-led referendum on Alberta separation.

The bill slashes the threshold under the Citizen Initiative Act—a law that technically allowed referendums on policy and constitutional matters, but until now, came with a signature requirement so high it was dead on arrival.

Albertans deserve elections that are fair, secure, and reflect the true will of the people.
That’s why our government is introducing the Election Statutes Amendment Act with the following proposed changes:
• Banning the use of electronic tabulators and other automated voting… pic.twitter.com/wMbQaFPowf

— Danielle Smith (@ABDanielleSmith) April 29, 2025

Before? You needed signatures from 20% of all eligible voters in Alberta—more than 600,000 people in 90 days. Now? The bar has been lowered to 10% of the number of voters who actually cast ballots in the last general election—just over 208,000 names.

And that change was introduced less than 24 hours after Mark Carney was elected by Ontario, Quebec, and the Atlantic provinces, with virtually no support in Alberta or Saskatchewan.

The timing isn’t a coincidence. It’s a message.

The bill includes other changes: banning electronic vote tabulators, scrapping vouching, expanding access to special ballots, and even bringing back corporate and union donations—with disclosure requirements.

But make no mistake: the most important clause in this bill is the one that makes a referendum on separation not just legal, but logistically possible.

It’s a political earthquake hiding in a procedural memo.

For the first time ever, Albertans can realistically force a vote on independence—and it’s happening just as the country they’re being told to stay in moves further and further away from who they are.

This is no longer theory. It’s legislation. And now the countdown begins.

Please sign the petition to demand Ottawa leave Alberta alone!

15,612 signatures

Goal: 25,000 signatures

We, the undersigned, stand with Alberta against federal overreach that threatens to cripple our economy and jeopardize the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of Canadians. Alberta has endured enough. The province contributes billions in equalization payments, supports jobs and industries across the country, and has been forced into economic sacrifices for decades. We demand an end to policies that punish Alberta for its resource wealth. Sign this petition to show your support for Alberta’s right to defend its economy, its jobs, and its future.

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