Premier Danielle Smith is asking for a referendum question on separation to be approved. (Photo: Pattison Media)

By Canadian Press

Alberta Premier Smith, minister call for separation referendum question to be approved

Jul 29, 2025 | 10:43 AM

Premier Danielle Smith and one of her ministers are calling on Alberta’s electoral officer to reverse course and sign off on a proposed referendum question on separation, saying it shouldn’t be held back by red tape.

This week, Chief Electoral Officer Gordon McClure announced he had referred the proposed question to the courts so a judge could decide if the question contravenes Canada’s Constitution.

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Smith and Justice Minister Mickey Amery say Albertans should be able to embark on getting the signatures necessary to spark a referendum without bureaucratic barriers or court proceedings slowing them down.

Amery says that since the province would ultimately be responsible for implementing any referendum result, the electoral officer’s request for judicial scrutiny is premature.

McClure’s office hasn’t explained why the question was referred to the courts for approval, only saying that he is permitted to do so in special cases under provincial law.

The minister’s call comes after the group that submitted the question, the Alberta Prosperity Project, called the electoral officer’s decision a “delay tactic.”

The proposed question seeks a yes or no answer to whether people agree with Alberta becoming a sovereign country and ceasing to be a province in Canada.

If approved, the group would need to collect 177,000 signatures in four months to put the question of Alberta separation on a ballot.

Rakhi Pancholi, Deputy Leader, Alberta’s New Democrats, says the premier and justice minister are committing judicial interference to push a separatist agenda:

“Yet again, Danielle Smith and her UCP government’s authoritarian tendencies, corruption and incompetence are on full display.

“The Premier and her UCP government passed legislation just two months ago empowering the Chief Electoral Officer to refer a matter to the courts to determine if a referendum question potentially violates the Constitution.

“Now, to appease the separatists in their party, they want the Chief Electoral Officer to ignore those very rules.

“Once again, the Premier is improperly attempting to apply political pressure on an independent decision-maker and interfere with the rule of law.

“This is completely inappropriate.

“The UCP government is only interested in keeping their political base happy, which means supporting separation. They are willing to interfere in the rule of law when it serves them. They know this isn’t the right thing to do, but they’re too focused on keeping their party together to focus on what Albertans need – better health care, proper funding for schools, and action to manage the UCP caused affordability crisis.

“Albertans deserve better than a government hell-bent on tearing our country apart to save their political skins.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 29, 2025.

(The Canadian Press)

(With file from rdnewsNOW)