{"id":104992,"date":"2026-05-22T08:32:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T12:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=104992"},"modified":"2026-05-22T08:32:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T12:32:12","slug":"losing-is-not-an-option-forever-canadian-petition-leader-intent-on-keeping-alberta-in-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/22\/losing-is-not-an-option-forever-canadian-petition-leader-intent-on-keeping-alberta-in-canada\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Losing is not an option&#8217;: Forever Canadian petition leader intent on keeping Alberta in Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By David Boles, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, St. Albert Gazette If you ask Thomas Lukaszuk, there&#8217;s only one answer to the newest referendum question Albertans will be answering on October 19. &#8220;We will win,&#8221; he said. The former deputy premier of Alberta and the man leading the federalist Forever Canadian initiative responded to Premier Danielle Smith&#8217;s address to the province on Thursday night. Over 400,000 people signed Lukaszuk&#8217;s petition, launched in response to the separation movement. In her address on May 21, Smith said an additional referendum question will be posed in conjunction with the nine others Albertans will be voting on in just under five months&#8217; time. The latest question will ask whether Albertans want to remain in Canada or whether the legal process should be commenced to hold&#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, Canada Print and Online, and USA 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%2F22%2Flosing-is-not-an-option-forever-canadian-petition-leader-intent-on-keeping-alberta-in-canada%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By David Boles, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, St. Albert Gazette If you ask Thomas Lukaszuk, there&#8217;s only one answer to the newest referendum question Albertans will be answering on October 19. &#8220;We will win,&#8221; he said. The former deputy premier of Alberta and the man leading the federalist Forever Canadian initiative responded to Premier Danielle Smith&#8217;s address to the province on Thursday night. Over 400,000 people signed Lukaszuk&#8217;s petition, launched in response to the separation movement. In her address on May 21, Smith said an additional referendum question will be posed in conjunction with the nine others Albertans will be voting on in just under five months&#8217; time. The latest question will ask whether Albertans want to remain in Canada or whether the legal process should be commenced to hold... <\/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, Canada Print and Online, and USA 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%2F22%2Flosing-is-not-an-option-forever-canadian-petition-leader-intent-on-keeping-alberta-in-canada%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-104992","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-level-8","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>&#039;Losing is not an option&#039;: Forever Canadian petition leader intent on keeping Alberta in Canada - 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\/22\/losing-is-not-an-option-forever-canadian-petition-leader-intent-on-keeping-alberta-in-canada\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"&#039;Losing is not an option&#039;: Forever Canadian petition leader intent on keeping Alberta in Canada - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By David Boles, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, St. Albert Gazette If you ask Thomas Lukaszuk, there&#8217;s only one answer to the newest referendum question Albertans will be answering on October 19. &#8220;We will win,&#8221; he said. The former deputy premier of Alberta and the man leading the federalist Forever Canadian initiative responded to Premier Danielle Smith&#8217;s address to the province on Thursday night. Over 400,000 people signed Lukaszuk&#8217;s petition, launched in response to the separation movement. In her address on May 21, Smith said an additional referendum question will be posed in conjunction with the nine others Albertans will be voting on in just under five months&#8217; time. The latest question will ask whether Albertans want to remain in Canada or whether the legal process should be commenced to hold\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/22\/losing-is-not-an-option-forever-canadian-petition-leader-intent-on-keeping-alberta-in-canada\/\" \/>\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=\"2026-05-22T12:32:12+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=\"2 minutes\" \/>\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\\\/22\\\/losing-is-not-an-option-forever-canadian-petition-leader-intent-on-keeping-alberta-in-canada\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/22\\\/losing-is-not-an-option-forever-canadian-petition-leader-intent-on-keeping-alberta-in-canada\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"&#8216;Losing is not an option&#8217;: Forever Canadian petition leader intent on keeping Alberta in Canada\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-22T12:32:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/22\\\/losing-is-not-an-option-forever-canadian-petition-leader-intent-on-keeping-alberta-in-canada\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":372,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/22\\\/losing-is-not-an-option-forever-canadian-petition-leader-intent-on-keeping-alberta-in-canada\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/22\\\/losing-is-not-an-option-forever-canadian-petition-leader-intent-on-keeping-alberta-in-canada\\\/\",\"name\":\"'Losing is not an option': Forever Canadian petition leader intent on keeping Alberta in Canada - The Turtle Island News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-22T12:32:12+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/22\\\/losing-is-not-an-option-forever-canadian-petition-leader-intent-on-keeping-alberta-in-canada\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/22\\\/losing-is-not-an-option-forever-canadian-petition-leader-intent-on-keeping-alberta-in-canada\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/22\\\/losing-is-not-an-option-forever-canadian-petition-leader-intent-on-keeping-alberta-in-canada\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"&#8216;Losing is not an option&#8217;: Forever Canadian petition leader intent on keeping Alberta in Canada\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Turtle Island News\",\"description\":\"Your Source for Local News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Turtle Island News\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/turtle150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/turtle150.jpg\",\"width\":140,\"height\":150,\"caption\":\"Turtle Island News\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/TurtleIslandNews\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/newsattheturtle\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCOqB-hG3L6hRLsmqY0e5k0g\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\",\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lynda Powless\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/lynda\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"'Losing is not an option': Forever Canadian petition leader intent on keeping Alberta in Canada - The Turtle Island News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/22\/losing-is-not-an-option-forever-canadian-petition-leader-intent-on-keeping-alberta-in-canada\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"'Losing is not an option': Forever Canadian petition leader intent on keeping Alberta in Canada - The Turtle Island News","og_description":"By David Boles, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, St. Albert Gazette If you ask Thomas Lukaszuk, there&#8217;s only one answer to the newest referendum question Albertans will be answering on October 19. &#8220;We will win,&#8221; he said. The former deputy premier of Alberta and the man leading the federalist Forever Canadian initiative responded to Premier Danielle Smith&#8217;s address to the province on Thursday night. Over 400,000 people signed Lukaszuk&#8217;s petition, launched in response to the separation movement. In her address on May 21, Smith said an additional referendum question will be posed in conjunction with the nine others Albertans will be voting on in just under five months&#8217; time. The latest question will ask whether Albertans want to remain in Canada or whether the legal process should be commenced to hold","og_url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/22\/losing-is-not-an-option-forever-canadian-petition-leader-intent-on-keeping-alberta-in-canada\/","og_site_name":"The Turtle Island News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/","article_published_time":"2026-05-22T12:32:12+00:00","og_image":[{"width":725,"height":483,"url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lynda Powless","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@newsattheturtle","twitter_site":"@newsattheturtle","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lynda Powless","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/22\/losing-is-not-an-option-forever-canadian-petition-leader-intent-on-keeping-alberta-in-canada\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/22\/losing-is-not-an-option-forever-canadian-petition-leader-intent-on-keeping-alberta-in-canada\/"},"author":{"name":"Lynda Powless","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458"},"headline":"&#8216;Losing is not an option&#8217;: Forever Canadian petition leader intent on keeping Alberta in Canada","datePublished":"2026-05-22T12:32:12+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/22\/losing-is-not-an-option-forever-canadian-petition-leader-intent-on-keeping-alberta-in-canada\/"},"wordCount":372,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["National News","ticker"],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/22\/losing-is-not-an-option-forever-canadian-petition-leader-intent-on-keeping-alberta-in-canada\/","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/22\/losing-is-not-an-option-forever-canadian-petition-leader-intent-on-keeping-alberta-in-canada\/","name":"'Losing is not an option': Forever Canadian petition leader intent on keeping Alberta in Canada - The Turtle Island News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-05-22T12:32:12+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/22\/losing-is-not-an-option-forever-canadian-petition-leader-intent-on-keeping-alberta-in-canada\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/22\/losing-is-not-an-option-forever-canadian-petition-leader-intent-on-keeping-alberta-in-canada\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/22\/losing-is-not-an-option-forever-canadian-petition-leader-intent-on-keeping-alberta-in-canada\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"&#8216;Losing is not an option&#8217;: Forever Canadian petition leader intent on keeping Alberta in Canada"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/","name":"The Turtle Island News","description":"Your Source for Local News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization","name":"Turtle Island News","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/turtle150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/turtle150.jpg","width":140,"height":150,"caption":"Turtle Island News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/","https:\/\/x.com\/newsattheturtle","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCOqB-hG3L6hRLsmqY0e5k0g"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458","name":"Lynda Powless","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lynda Powless"},"url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/author\/lynda\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/101363"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104992"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":104993,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104992\/revisions\/104993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}