Organizers of Alberta’s pro-Canada petition group say they’re optimistic they will collect enough signatures in time. The “Forever Canadian Group” doesn’t have a running total yet for how many signatures have been gathered, but say their website has had more than half a million views and there are 4,000 registered signature collectors and 3,000 volunteers. The group has launched a citizen-initiated petition that needs nearly 300,000 signatures by Oct. 28. The petition by Thomas Lukaszuk, a former Progressive Conservative cabinet minister, is for a policy proposal asking people: “Do you agree that Alberta should remain in Canada?” It was approved by Alberta’s chief electoral officer at the end of July. “We have federal Conservatives, Liberals and NDPers sitting at the same table to make this happen,” said Lukaszuk. “I have to tell you as a former politician, it’s unprecedented. “You never see this happen,” he said. “It’s a movement, but our goal remains collecting 300,000 signatures and that’s it.” Lukaszuk says the group is working on a process to gather the petitions every couple of weeks. That will allow them to keep a running tally of how many signatures have been collected. For more about the Forever Canadian Group, go here. With files from CTV Edmonton’s Craig Ellison and Sean McClune
