Political strategist Ken Boessenkool declared this week that “direct democracy is for losers,” promoting a column co-authored with University of Alberta political scientist Jared Wesley arguing that Alberta needs “more representative democracy and less direct democracy.”

Alberta's recent political history provides important context, where direct democracy has been enthusiastically used by federalists and separatists alike.

Former Progressive Conservative deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk turned to Alberta's Citizen Initiative Act in 2025 for his Forever Canada campaign, proposing the question: “Do you agree that Alberta should remain in Canada?”

Elections Alberta approved the initiative and required 293,976 signatures for it to succeed. Lukaszuk's campaign blew past that threshold, with 438,568 valid signatures counted and an estimated 404,293 verified through statistical sampling. Elections Alberta declared the initiative successful.

Whatever one thinks of the question, it was direct democracy in action: citizens organized, collected signatures and used legislation specifically designed to allow voters to put issues onto the political agenda.

Former premier Jason Kenney, another committed federalist, also put a major constitutional question directly to Alberta voters.

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His government held the 2021 equalization referendum, asking whether Section 36(2) of the Constitution Act, 1982, which contains the federal commitment to equalization, should be removed.

Albertans delivered an emphatic answer: 61.7% voted Yes, representing 642,501 votes.

Kenney was clear about why he wanted the referendum. He described the result he was seeking as a “bargaining chip” intended to give Alberta leverage in negotiations with Ottawa over fiscal federalism.

The constitutional provision was not ultimately removed. Alberta could initiate the amendment process, but could not amend the Constitution by itself.

More importantly, Kenney's own government explicitly endorsed the broader principle. Its response to the Fair Deal Panel accepted a recommendation to “use democratic tools such as referenda and citizens’ initiatives to seek Albertans’ guidance” and committed to creating citizen-initiative legislation.

Now, independence supporters are using the same tool.

In 2026, Albertans seeking a referendum used that citizen-initiative system themselves. The initiative required 177,732 signatures.

Elections Alberta counted 286,593 initially submitted signatures and found 279,337 valid. The agency subsequently determined that the statutory signature requirement had been met, although later court proceedings affected the initiative process.

The political objective is radically different from Lukaszuk's, but the democratic mechanism is not.

One campaign used citizen initiative to demonstrate support for remaining in Canada. Another used it to advance an independence referendum. Kenney's government used a referendum to seek leverage against Ottawa.

And Alberta hardly invented the concept.

Switzerland provides perhaps the best-known modern example of representative and direct democracy operating side by side.

Swiss citizens elect a parliament but can also launch popular initiatives to amend the constitution and force referendums on legislation. At the federal level, a popular initiative requires 100,000 signatures, while an optional referendum requires 50,000. Swiss voters are routinely called upon to decide national questions directly.

The Swiss government's own description calls direct democracy a defining feature of its political system.

Boessenkool and Wesley can argue that Alberta would function better with less direct democracy. Others can argue that referendums and citizen initiatives provide a useful check on elected governments.

But direct democracy isn't something Alberta suddenly discovered with the independence movement.

Kenney used a referendum to seek leverage against Ottawa. Lukaszuk used a citizen initiative to advance a pro-Canada campaign. Independence supporters subsequently used the same citizen-initiative process to put their own question before Albertans.