{"id":104353,"date":"2026-05-04T08:25:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T12:25:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=104353"},"modified":"2026-05-04T08:25:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T12:25:11","slug":"alberta-separatists-set-to-deliver-thousands-of-signatures-on-petition-for-referendum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/04\/alberta-separatists-set-to-deliver-thousands-of-signatures-on-petition-for-referendum\/","title":{"rendered":"Alberta separatists set to deliver thousands of signatures on petition for referendum"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A group of Alberta separatists gathering signatures to trigger a referendum on pulling the province out of Confederation is set to hand in its petition sheets today. Mitch Sylvestre, the head of Stay Free Alberta, says it plans to deliver the thousands of names to Elections Alberta&#8217;s head office in Edmonton. More than a month ago, Sylvestre said the group had already collected much more than the approximate 178,000 signatures required since it started in January. The question of separation could go on a provincewide ballot as early as October, as Premier Danielle Smith has said she would move forward if enough names are gathered and verified. However, the petition could face another hurdle. An Edmonton judge is expected to rule this week on a court challenge launched by a&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F05%2F04%2Falberta-separatists-set-to-deliver-thousands-of-signatures-on-petition-for-referendum%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A group of Alberta separatists gathering signatures to trigger a referendum on pulling the province out of Confederation is set to hand in its petition sheets today. Mitch Sylvestre, the head of Stay Free Alberta, says it plans to deliver the thousands of names to Elections Alberta&#8217;s head office in Edmonton. More than a month ago, Sylvestre said the group had already collected much more than the approximate 178,000 signatures required since it started in January. The question of separation could go on a provincewide ballot as early as October, as Premier Danielle Smith has said she would move forward if enough names are gathered and verified. However, the petition could face another hurdle. An Edmonton judge is expected to rule this week on a court challenge launched by a... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F05%2F04%2Falberta-separatists-set-to-deliver-thousands-of-signatures-on-petition-for-referendum%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Alberta separatists set to deliver thousands of signatures on petition for referendum - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/04\/alberta-separatists-set-to-deliver-thousands-of-signatures-on-petition-for-referendum\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Alberta separatists set to deliver thousands of signatures on petition for referendum - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A group of Alberta separatists gathering signatures to trigger a referendum on pulling the province out of Confederation is set to hand in its petition sheets today. Mitch Sylvestre, the head of Stay Free Alberta, says it plans to deliver the thousands of names to Elections Alberta&#8217;s head office in Edmonton. More than a month ago, Sylvestre said the group had already collected much more than the approximate 178,000 signatures required since it started in January. The question of separation could go on a provincewide ballot as early as October, as Premier Danielle Smith has said she would move forward if enough names are gathered and verified. However, the petition could face another hurdle. An Edmonton judge is expected to rule this week on a court challenge launched by a\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/04\/alberta-separatists-set-to-deliver-thousands-of-signatures-on-petition-for-referendum\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-04T12:25:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/04\\\/alberta-separatists-set-to-deliver-thousands-of-signatures-on-petition-for-referendum\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/04\\\/alberta-separatists-set-to-deliver-thousands-of-signatures-on-petition-for-referendum\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Alberta separatists set to deliver thousands of signatures on petition for referendum\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-04T12:25:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/04\\\/alberta-separatists-set-to-deliver-thousands-of-signatures-on-petition-for-referendum\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":164,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/04\\\/alberta-separatists-set-to-deliver-thousands-of-signatures-on-petition-for-referendum\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/04\\\/alberta-separatists-set-to-deliver-thousands-of-signatures-on-petition-for-referendum\\\/\",\"name\":\"Alberta separatists set to deliver thousands of signatures on petition for referendum - 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