By Jana Semeniuk, Staff Reporte
Mundare resident Michele Schuler said she does not want to see Alberta separate from Canada.
As a result, she quickly signed up to help former Alberta Deputy Premier Thomas Lukasick collect signatures to present a referendum on the issue and brought the petition to Lamont last week.
Lukaszuk’s referendum question, “Do you agree that Alberta should remain in Canada?” was approved by Elections Alberta on July 30, giving him until Oct. 28 (90 days) to gather 293,976 signatures and put the referendum to Alberta voters.
Another referendum question was submitted by the Alberta Prosperity Project a short while later, asking the question; “Do you agree that Alberta shall become a Sovereign country and cease to be a province of Canada?”.
APP’s question was filed after changes to the Citizen Initiative Act were put into force allowing them to collect less signatures within a longer length of time; 177,000 in 120 days.
While Lukaszuk’s question was smoothly approved to begin the signature collecting stage, the APP question hit a legal snag after the Chief Electoral Officer of Elections Alberta put it to a review by the Court of King’s Bench.
Alberta CEO Gordan McClure wants the judge to determine whether the question violates the constitution, including treaty rights, before an approval is made.
According to reports, the judge said he will make a ruling before the end of 2025.
Meanwhile, Schuler said her table was initially set up near the Lamont Arena door while the Farmer’s Market was in full swing on Aug. 20, but asked to move away so as not to associate the market with a political movement.
“I can understand that,” she said. Not deterred, Schuler moved her table near the entrance to the parking lot, waving at attendees as they pulled in with their vehicles. In over an hour, she collected 10 signatures.
Schuler said she believes in the petition and is not concerned with the APP’s position that Alberta is not getting a fair deal from Ottawa.
“I think separatism on any front is a huge mistake, and I want to be Canadian and stay Canadian, so that’s why I’m fighting this,” she said.
“(We get) occasionally screwed over by the east, well, get used to it (it’s) everywhere.”
As Schuler was speaking to the Lamont Leader, two women approached her table with one enthusiastic to sign the petition.
Schuler asked her the required questions around her age, eligibility to vote and whether she agrees Alberta should remain in Canada.
After adding her signature, the woman turned to her friend and asked if she would like to sign.
The other woman emphatically stated, “No.”
