By Jack Farrell and Lisa Johnson A citizen-led petition seeking to force a vote on Alberta quitting Canada is officially successful. Elections Alberta announced Friday it verified nearly 223,000 signatures out of almost 280,000 valid names counted. The petition needed almost 178,000 signatures to be successful. Despite the result, the document is largely moot. It was quashed in court in May, although the ruling is being appealed by those behind the petition campaign as well as by Premier Danielle Smith’s government. Smith has cited the separatist petition and a competing pro-Canada petition that got a little more than 400,000 verified signatures as the reason why she has put a separation question on the province’s Oct. 19 referendum. The question asks Albertans if they want to remain in Canada or hold…







