A war of petitions could determine the future of Canada

Former Albertan Minister and organizer of the “Forever Canadian” petition, Thomas Lukaszuk, is in the campaign for Alberta officially to adopt a policy that would allow the province to remain anchored in Canada.

His mission, which he describes as a full -time workseeks to collect 294,000 signatures before the end of October to trigger a provincial referendum.

I am very passionate about this subject.

An ambitious objective

The question asked would be whether Alberta should make its membership in Canada its official policy.

When we have reached 300,000 signatures, believe it or not, it will be the biggest petition in Canada history said Lukaszuk.

According to him, there are some 3000 volunteers mobilized to collect signatures, and thousands of other people who help the daily organization of signatures in various places, ranging from dog parks to producer markets and summer festivals.

Mr. Lukaszuk and his teams of volunteers took to the streets of Edmonton last week. The biggest challenge, he notes, is not to find Albertains wishing to sign, but to bring them the petition physically.

Each person in their own community knows their community, and they tell us how they are going to do it, explains Mr. Lukaszuk, emphasizing the decentralized approach to the campaign.

Each day, between 20 and 30 signature collection events Forever Canadian are listed on the organization’s website.

The Battle of Petitions

In response to Thomas Lukaszuk’s campaign, a separatist movement remains very active. L’Alberta Prosperity Project (App), which advocates separation, also seeks to launch its own petition.

The referendum question of this movement is as follows: Do you agree that the province of Alberta becomes a sovereign country and ceases to be a province of Canada?

Although Judge Colin Feasby of the Queen’s Banc Court must hear the arguments and decide on the constitutionality of this referendum question, Mitch Sylvestre, Managing Director of theAPPhas good hope.

This will only pretend to be our efforts if the court proves us wrong.

He claims that their infrastructure will be ready for the collection of signatures when the time comes.

But a key element of this confrontation is a new law of the government of the united conservative party. This law, which entered into force after Mr. Lukaszuk submitted his request, lowered the threshold for referendum initiatives led by citizens.

If the petition of theAPP is approved by Alberta elections, it will only need around 177,000 signatures and will have four months, instead of three, to collect them.

L’APP claims to have already online commitments of nearly 250,000 Albertans, which makes them ready to act as soon as the approval is approved.

A motivation in the face of the division

Thomas Lukaszuk claims to be motivated by a deep patriotism and judges secession as illogical . Having immigrated from Poland to Canada at the age of 12, he witnessed the collapse of democracy.

There were literally tanks and armored vehicles right in front of my door, Does he remember while adding: Canada gave my family a second chance .

L’initiative Forever Canadian is not a non -partisan.

It benefits from the support of various political figures, notably the former progressive-conservative Prime Minister of Alberta, Ed Stelmach, Ian McClelland, a founding member of the Reforming Party of Canada, and the former leader of the new Democratic Party of Alberta, Ray Martin.

Although she supports a sovereign province in a Uni Canada, Prime Minister Alberta Danielle Smith refused to sign Mr. Lukaszuk’s petition. The latter encourages him to take a clear position.

With Canadian press information