Petition 10K signatures short as first deadline looms in burst of Alberta recalls

EDMONTON — A petitioner looking to oust an Alberta cabinet minister says she has a huge task ahead, as the campaign nears its deadline for signature collection.

Jenny Yeremiy, in an interview Tuesday, said she thinks the petition has garnered about 6,000 signatures since the end of October.

It needs another 10,000 in the next two weeks to force a constituency-wide vote on whether Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides should lose his seat.

Yeremiy said a big push for signatures is planned for the final days but acknowledged getting that many in such a short time would be a major accomplishment.

“I certainly didn’t go into this work believing that this was a slam dunk,” she said.

“We’ve been getting the information out to people, and now we need them to take action.”

The petition was the first of 26 launched against members of Alberta’s legislature in the final months of 2025.

Twenty-four are against members of Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative caucus, including the premier. The two others are against members of the Opposition NDP.

Many of the petitioners have said they were motivated by the government using the Charter’s notwithstanding clause to halt a provincewide teachers strike at the end of October.

Yeremiy has criticized the move as well, although her petition against Nicolaides was launched days before the government ended the strike and forced on teachers a contract with terms that had previously been rejected.

In her application to Elections Alberta, Yeremiy wrote that she wanted the petition over the minister’s “clear failure to support public education.”

“Governments are meant to actually provide services, and this government is not doing that,” Yeremiy said in an interview Tuesday.

“They’re doing the opposite of that. They’re taking our services away in full view.”

Yeremiy said if she falls short on signatures, the campaign should still be considered a success for getting people engaged with politics, especially if the government calls an early provincial election. Smith dismissed that possibility last week.

“This is an excuse to engage with each other, and that work isn’t going to stop after this recall is complete,” Yeremiy said.

“This is about regaining our power as a constituency.”

She also said if the petition comes up short, she likely won’t submit the signatures to Elections Alberta for verification. She said some residents in the constituency have told her they’re concerned that attaching their names to the petition could be used against them by the government.

“The law is that they are not supposed to even see your name, but we’ve witnessed that this a government that will break the law,” Yeremiy said, referring to claims Service Alberta Minister Dale Nally broke election laws by publicly saying the petitioner targeting him didn’t vote in past elections.

The premier later said Nally was mistaken in claiming the constituent didn’t vote. The UCP has denied breaking any laws.

Nicolaides said in an email Tuesday the petition against him being short so many signatures is “proof that (the campaign) is meritless, as had been my position all along.”

“I recognize there are still two weeks left in the process, and I await the final results,” he said.

The deadline is Jan. 21, the same day Nicolaides is set to be hiking down from the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro as part of a fundraiser to combat domestic violence. His sister was the victim of a murder-suicide at the hands of her ex-husband nearly two years ago.

In an interview last month, Nicolaides said he started hiking after the tragedy and it been an effective way to manage his grief and focus on other things, including his job as a legislator.

“I know it won’t change the world, but hopefully it can change something,” he said of the fundraiser.

The recall campaign against Nicolaides is the only one with a January deadline. Signatures for more than a dozen others are due next month.

Petitioners have three months to collect signatures equal to 60 per cent of the total number of votes cast in their constituency in the 2023 provincial election.

If successful, a constituency-wide vote would be held on whether the politician keeps their seat. If the member loses, a byelection would be held.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 6, 2026.

Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press