EDMONTON -- Alberta's Opposition says the decision by Premier Danielle Smith's United Conservatives to schedule a last-minute committee meeting suggests they might be looking for a new way to get a separation question put to a referendum this fall.
NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi says a bipartisan legislature committee headed up by Smith's UCP plans to meet Wednesday to discuss a pro-Canada petition put forward by former deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk.
Lukaszuk gathered more than 400,000 names to force either a legislature or a provincewide referendum vote on keeping Alberta in Canada.
The committee has been discussing what to do with Lukaszuk's petition, but the NDP has said the committee has been bogging down the process in order to move ahead with a second petition put forward by Alberta separatists to force a vote on the province leaving Canada.
That second petition is in limbo after an Alberta judge last week quashed it on the grounds First Nations were not properly consulted.
Nenshi says he's worried that with that second petition in limbo, Smith's UCP will force through a divisive referendum on Lukaszuk's petition -- despite the former deputy premier not calling for one -- while washing her hands of responsibility.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 19, 2026.