Second recall petition against an Alberta legislature member fails

EDMONTON — A second recall petition to oust a member of Alberta’s legislature has failed after falling well short of the required signatures.

Derek Keenan, who has been petitioning since November for the removal of deputy Speaker Angela Pitt, a United Conservative MLA, says his campaign collected roughly 2,200 names.

Keenan needed to have just under 15,000 signatures by the end of Tuesday to force a constituency-wide vote on whether Pitt should keep her seat in Airdrie-East.

He said Monday that he has stopped collecting signatures in order to get the paperwork to Elections Alberta by the deadline.

It means the first two of 26 petitions launched late last year against members of Alberta’s legislature have failed.

The campaign against Alberta’s education minister fell short last month. The petitioner in that case collected just over 40 per cent of required signatures.

Keenan said he feels good about his petition campaign despite the result.

“I feel positive,” he said in an interview.

“It really wasn’t about winning the recall — if you want to call it a win — or pushing the vote. It was really about raising awareness in our riding and calling attention to some of the concerns.”

In his application for the petition, Keenan claimed Pitt was lacking in her role as a representative by prioritizing partisan politics and failing to address or solve local concerns.

He also said his goal wasn’t to have her replaced by an NDP candidate, as the riding is predominantly conservative.

Since the petition was launched, Pitt has been more active in the community, Keenan added.

“That’s all we’re really looking for, and that’s all this has really been about,” he said.

“Just making sure that our dialogue is one that is respectful of our constituents, of our public and the dialogue is progressive and not restrictive.”

The campaign faced a number of roadblocks, Keenan said, as canvassers faced frigid winter temperatures and Pitt doesn’t have a high profile compared to other provincial politicians.

“You say the name, and people go, ‘Who?'” Keenan said.

“People just don’t seem very politically engaged or aware. And I think that is part of the problem that we’re facing right now.”

Pitt, who has represented the Airdrie-East constituency just north of Calgary for more than a decade, accused Keenan in November of abusing his position as a high school principal to launch what she called a politically motivated campaign.

On Monday, she said the petition was clearly baseless.

“I will not be deterred by a small fringe minority of left-wing activists with dangerous ideological views,” she said in a statement Monday.

“I remain focused on the work voters elected me to do – advocating for policies that help our community grow and thrive.”

Keenan applied for the petition in October during a provincewide teachers strike. Nearly a week later, the government invoked the Charter’s notwithstanding clause and ordered teachers back to work. It also forced on educators a contract with terms that were previously rejected.

He had said his motivations were unrelated to the strike and that he tried to keep the petition and his day job separate.

A spokesperson for Elections Alberta said it would announce next steps for the petition against Pitt after the deadline passed.

A dozen more recall petitions come due later this month.

Of the 26 against legislature members, 24 targeted members of Premier Danielle Smith’s UCP caucus — including Smith. The other two are against members of the Opposition NDP.

Petitioners get 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 the seat. If the member loses, a byelection would be held.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 2, 2026.

Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press