{"id":104389,"date":"2026-05-05T08:43:05","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T12:43:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=104389"},"modified":"2026-05-05T08:43:05","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T12:43:05","slug":"first-step-alberta-separatists-deliver-referendum-petition-tout-300k-signatures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/05\/first-step-alberta-separatists-deliver-referendum-petition-tout-300k-signatures\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;First step&#8217;: Alberta separatists deliver referendum petition, tout 300K signatures"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Jack Farrell Alberta separatists handed in a massive petition Monday to try to trigger a referendum on the province leaving Canada, touting a final tally of nearly 302,000 signatures after months of campaigning. Waving Alberta flags and sporting matching blue hoodies, more than 300 supporters gathered at the Elections Alberta office in Edmonton as a convoy of trucks delivered the paperwork. Mitch Sylvestre, the head of Stay Free Alberta and main organizer of the petition, first pulled in with a trailer containing 42 banker boxes of petition sheets. &#8220;You guys brought us here. Without you guys, none of this would happen,&#8221; Sylvestre said. &#8220;You stood in the cold, you got abused and people yelled at you&#8230;. It was not easy.&#8221; Provincial law requires 178,000 signatures to force such 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%2F05%2Ffirst-step-alberta-separatists-deliver-referendum-petition-tout-300k-signatures%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Jack Farrell Alberta separatists handed in a massive petition Monday to try to trigger a referendum on the province leaving Canada, touting a final tally of nearly 302,000 signatures after months of campaigning. Waving Alberta flags and sporting matching blue hoodies, more than 300 supporters gathered at the Elections Alberta office in Edmonton as a convoy of trucks delivered the paperwork. Mitch Sylvestre, the head of Stay Free Alberta and main organizer of the petition, first pulled in with a trailer containing 42 banker boxes of petition sheets. &#8220;You guys brought us here. Without you guys, none of this would happen,&#8221; Sylvestre said. &#8220;You stood in the cold, you got abused and people yelled at you&#8230;. It was not easy.&#8221; Provincial law requires 178,000 signatures to force such 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%2F05%2Ffirst-step-alberta-separatists-deliver-referendum-petition-tout-300k-signatures%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-104389","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>&#039;First step&#039;: Alberta separatists deliver referendum petition, tout 300K signatures - 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\/05\/first-step-alberta-separatists-deliver-referendum-petition-tout-300k-signatures\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"&#039;First step&#039;: Alberta separatists deliver referendum petition, tout 300K signatures - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Jack Farrell Alberta separatists handed in a massive petition Monday to try to trigger a referendum on the province leaving Canada, touting a final tally of nearly 302,000 signatures after months of campaigning. Waving Alberta flags and sporting matching blue hoodies, more than 300 supporters gathered at the Elections Alberta office in Edmonton as a convoy of trucks delivered the paperwork. Mitch Sylvestre, the head of Stay Free Alberta and main organizer of the petition, first pulled in with a trailer containing 42 banker boxes of petition sheets. &#8220;You guys brought us here. Without you guys, none of this would happen,&#8221; Sylvestre said. &#8220;You stood in the cold, you got abused and people yelled at you&#8230;. 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