BIG WIN! Judge won't let Elections Alberta run out the clock

A judge has given a direct signal that the court will not allow Elections Alberta and Thomas Lukaszuk's Forever Canadian group to drag the proceedings past the referendum vote.

Sheila Gunn Reid
  |   September 14, 2026   |   Activism   |   3 Comments

A Calgary judge is not going to let Elections Alberta run out the clock.

The case centres on Forever Canadian — the federalist third party advertiser behind the "remain" side of Alberta's October 19 referendum. While every independence-side advertiser files weekly financial disclosures accounting for every dollar in and every dollar out, Forever Canadian has operated a tour bus, two campaign offices, thousands of lawn signs, volunteers across the province, and two benefit concerts including one headlined by Jann Arden — and has declared zero expenditures and zero donations.

Rebel News filed a 241-page complaint with Elections Alberta on July 24. The commissioner did nothing for 48 days. So Rebel News went to court.

Today's hearing was short but consequential.

The judge directed Williamson Law, acting for Rebel News, to write to Associate Chief Justice Nixon requesting an expedited hearing. Rebel News's documents must be filed by Wednesday.

Crucially, the judge also put a Friday deadline on the opposing side's response to the expedited hearing request — a direct signal that the court will not allow Forever Canadian to drag the proceedings past the referendum vote.

There was one notable sidebar. The lawyer representing Forever Canadian in these proceedings is Brent Rathgeber — a former Conservative MP from St. Albert who resigned from Stephen Harper's caucus in 2013, citing concerns that the party wasn't transparent enough.

He is now in court arguing to keep Forever Canadian's finances opaque from Albertans ahead of a province-wide vote.

Williamson Law will be working quickly to get their documents before the Associate Chief Justice ahead of Wednesday's deadline. To read the full originating application, our 363-page affidavit, and all supporting documents — and to help cover the legal costs — visit StopTheCheaters.com.

We took the referendum cheaters to court — and won.

Latest News

WE WON. Four days before the vote, Elections Alberta sent Rebel News its formal Notice of Outcome: Thomas Lukaszuk's Forever Canadian was investigated, served with a Notice of Investigation, and put under a compliance agreement — after fifteen weeks of $0.00.

Three weeks earlier, Elections Alberta's lawyers told a judge our case was "not urgent" and "hopeless," and that we weren't entitled to know whether an investigation existed. The investigation had been open for 33 days when they said it. We sued to get a decision before Albertans vote, and we got one — but Rebel News paid the lawyers for every step. If you believe the same rules should apply to every campaign in this referendum, please help us cover the cost of this fight.

Amount
$
Donation frequency
DONATE

Sheila Gunn Reid

Chief Reporter

Sheila Gunn Reid is the Editor-in-Chief, Alberta Bureau Chief, member of the board of directors, and host of The Gunn Show at Rebel News. Sheila also serves as President of the Independent Press Gallery of Canada. A mother of three and longtime conservative activist, Sheila is the author of bestselling books, including her most recent release, Independence Blueprint: What Alberta Can Learn From Quebec.

https://mybook.to/sheila

Featured Stories

COMMENTS

Showing 3 Comments

Please check your e-mail for a link to activate your account.
  • Bruce Atchison
    commented 2026-09-14 19:37:50 -0400
    I hope Forever Canadian gets the maximum punishment for their cheating. I also hope whoever at Elections Alberta who let this cheating happen gets fired.
  • K Vb
    commented 2026-09-14 19:30:06 -0400
    Good Job Sheila 👏
  • K Vb
    commented 2026-09-14 19:26:05 -0400
    Thankful for this 🙏