Premier Danielle Smith says a bipartisan committee will be struck this week to discuss the Forever Canadian petition.
Two callers to her Saturday radio program, Your Province, Your Premier, asked what she’s doing about Thomas Lukaszuk’s petition.
The Forever Canadian petition collected more than 400,000 signatures.
Smith said the question he put forward very clearly states that it would be a vote of the people of Alberta.
“It may well be that we -- they -- make the decision to put it on the ballot in October,” she told host Wayne Nelson, “or it may be that they make the decision to put it to a vote in the legislature, but it’s a legal issue.
“Because the petition calls for a referendum,” she added, “and I think a lot of citizens signed it on that basis. So we have to do a little more study on that one.”
In a statement to CTV News, Lukaszuk said his group would support posing the Forever Canadian petition question in the Oct. 19 referendum.
“As always, we believe that there is no need for divisive, politically motivated referenda. We know that a small number of Albertans support separation,” the statement read.
“But if the premier wishes to expose Alberta’s economy and our social cohesion to the instability that such referenda cause, then the pro-Canadian question posed by (Forever Canadian) should be on the ballot.”
