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EDMONTON — The former politician who gathered more than 456,000 signatures to keep Alberta in Canada says he watched first-hand Tuesday as the legislature committee tasked with a review continued to strangle the democratic process.
Thomas Lukaszuk, a former deputy premier, said he’s not surprised, but it’s “bizarre” the committee, led by governing United Conservative Party members, shut down a proposal to soon hear from him directly.
“It shows pure cynicism and disregard for this democratic process,” he said.
Lukaszuk said Premier Danielle Smith’s UCP is playing a “cynical, political game” by delaying its work to give a separatist petition, currently gathering signatures, a leg up on putting their question on an October ballot.
“For lack of a better term, the process is a sham,” Lukaszuk told reporters after observing the committee’s first meeting.
The committee was struck in early March to discuss Lukaszuk’s “Forever Canadian” petition, after just over 400,000 signatures were verified by election officials and its policy proposal was tabled in the legislature in early December.
Lukaszuk said it’s disheartening the government has been ignoring the voices of nearly half a million people “from the beginning.”
UCP members on the committee also voted down an Opposition NDP motion to wrap up its work before the legislature rises in a few weeks, saying they didn’t want to rush it.
Indigenous Relations Minister Rajan Sawhney, who sits on the committee, pushed back, saying the suggestion the UCP is favouring separatists isn’t “a valid conclusion.”
She told reporters it’s premature to set firm timelines because the committee doesn’t know how long important technical briefings will take.
“We have to let the process unfold,” she said.
Social Services Minister Jason Nixon, also a committee member, said the vote Tuesday doesn’t mean the committee won’t hear from Lukaszuk, just that it has to spend time ensuring the technical process is followed.
“Once we do that, then we’ll make some determinations of what the best path forward is,” he told reporters.
Meanwhile, the clock is ticking.
The legislature is expected to rise on May 14 for the summer.
Stay Free Alberta petitioners have until May 2 to collect signatures for a referendum on separating the province from Canada, although organizers have already said they’ve surpassed the minimum 178,000-signature threshold.
Smith has said that question could be added to a vote, should it get the required signatures, with nine government questions, slated for Oct. 19.
The legislature is not set to meet again until Oct. 27.
NDP deputy leader Rakhi Pancholi, who sits on the committee, said the UCP has slow-walked the committee’s work since December, and she doesn’t believe it will move forward in a timely fashion.
“They’re willing to put off hearing from Thomas Lukaszuk as long as possible. I mean, we’re still at the mercy of the chair to decide when this next meeting is going to be,” she said.
She said she believes it’s all to avoid a vote in the house that would answer whether or not the UCP denounces separatism.
“If (Smith’s) afraid to have that vote in the legislature, it’s because she’s afraid of what she’s going to have to tell Albertans about who her party is, what they value, what they support, and that many of them support separatism,” said Pancholi.
Committee chair and UCP backbencher Brandon Lunty told reporters he’s going to make sure they can co-ordinate a schedule as soon as possible, but he didn’t commit to a deadline.
Nixon noted the committee can submit its report when the legislature isn’t sitting in the summer, and in the event it recommends a referendum, then it would go through cabinet.
“Even if the house is not sitting, it does not stop the committee from advancing its work,” he said.
Smith has long said her government supports a sovereign Alberta staying in Confederation. But she has also made it easier for groups to hold a referendum on quitting Canada by changing the law, including to lower the signature threshold.
In late March, Smith said questions needed to be cleared up on whether Lukaszuk’s petition drive was about triggering a provincewide referendum or a vote by legislators in the house.
“I think we need to hear from Mr. Lukaszuk,” she said.
On Tuesday, Lukaszuk said the committee refused to hear from him, despite being given the opportunity.
“I think that (Smith) enjoys being confused, because being confused plays very well into her game,” he said.
He said he filed his petition as a policy proposal, because he wants it to be resolved in the legislature by a vote. But his group is preparing if the premier calls a referendum on the issue, he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 21, 2026.
Lisa Johnson, The Canadian Press
