Alberta Prosperity Project to reapply for petition on separation referendum question

Alberta's chief electoral officer has approved a notice of intent from the Alberta Prosperity Project to reapply for a separation petition.

The Alberta Prosperity Project is planning to reapply for a citizen initiative petition that would ask voters if the province should become a sovereign country.

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Mitch Sylvestre, head of the project, had to reapply after the Alberta government tabled a bill making amendments to the Citizens Initiative Act earlier this month.

Judicial review of the proposed separation referendum began in November, but was discontinued after the bill was tabled on Dec. 4.

Applicants of any petition before the courts at the time were given 30 days to reapply without paying an application fee.

Corb Lund must undergo the same process for his No New Coal Mining in Alberta’s Rockies petition.

Bill 14 transfers the ability to refer questions to the court from the chief electoral officer to the justice minister.

Elections Alberta chief electoral officer Gordon McClure has said it interferes with the independence of his office.

The province said the bill will prevent initiatives from “piggybacking” onto other initiatives, such as the Forever Canadian petition, which successfully petitioned to make it an official policy for Alberta to stay in Canada.

Initiated by former deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk, the petition was verified by Elections Alberta on Dec. 1 and will be brought to the legislative assembly.

The Alberta Prosperity Project will have until Jan. 11 to submit its application for the initiative petition.

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