Danielle Smith, Premier of Alberta. (Government of Alberta - YouTube)

By The Canadian Press

Provincial Politics

Alberta premier promises separation referendum in 2026 if petition signatures warrant

May 5, 2025 | 4:06 PM

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she would hold a referendum on provincial separation next year if citizens gather the required signatures on a petition.

Smith, in a livestream address, says she wants a sovereign Alberta within a united Canada but the voices of those unhappy with Confederation are not fringe extremists and must be listened to.

The speech comes a week after Smith’s United Conservative government introduced legislation that, if passed, will sharply reduce the bar petitioners need to meet to trigger a provincial referendum.

The current minimum standard of signatures is 10 per cent of voters in the last election representing 177,000 names with four months to gather the petition.

Smith says Alberta has no choice but to take steps to combat a decade of hostile federal Liberal policies and laws she says have not only taken an unfair share of Alberta’s wealth but in doing so have also undermined the oil and gas industry that drives its economy.

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She says in the meantime she will negotiate an end to some of these federal policies while also hosting a series of town halls to hear ideas and grievances from Albertans, and says some of those ideas may also find their way into referendum questions.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 5, 2025.

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