Forever Canadian Petition Successful

Dec 1

File photo - Thomas Lucaszuk in Medicine Hat Oct 17 2025

The Forever Canadian Petition (FCP) started by Thomas Lucaszuk has been deemed successful by Elections Alberta today. The petition has been submitted to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.

What Happens Next?

Whether it is a Legislative or Policy Proposal, the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly shall lay the proposal before the Legislative Assembly. Within 10 sitting days, the Government shall bring forward a motion to have the proposal referred to a committee of the Legislative Assembly. The legislature is only sitting for another 8 days including today. The Speaker could choose to delay laying the proposal until after the fall sitting.

That is where the process begins to diverge.

In the case of a Legislative Proposal, the government can opt to introduce a bill; in the case of a Policy Proposal, send the issue to a referendum. Either must be done within 90 days if the Assembly is sitting or within 15 days after the next sitting starts. A bill must then be introduced at the earliest practicable opportunity or in the case of a referendum, before or on the next election date.

Elections Alberta Citizen Initiative Process

Most people thought it could not be done

After all, the signature requirement was very high - 10% of the registered voters in the province (293,976). The FCP was filed days before the new rules came into effect which would have reduced the signature requirement to 177,732.

Lucaszuk did not want to wait.

Lucaszuk’s campaign was hugely successful - he was able to gather the support of over 10,000 volunteers from all over the province. Lucaszuk told the Owl that the Medicine Hat volunteers collected far more signatures than expected for our population. Some of these volunteers have since registered as canvassers for the latest Citizen Initiative Petition called Alberta Funds Public Schools.

Elections Alberta estimates that 13.6% of all eligible electors signed the petition. The signature verification was complete on Nov 15, well ahead of the Dec 27 2025 deadline. The financial reports were received on the due date of Nov 27, the financial filing was deemed complete Nov 28.

Who is Thomas Lucaszuk?

Thomas Lucaszuk is a Polish immigrant who came to Canada with his family 43 years ago. He is a former Progressive Conservative MLA first elected in 2001 representing Edmonton-Castle Downs, losing his seat in 2015. Lucaszuk was the first Polish-born cabinet minister and deputy premier in Canada.

What About the Separatists?

This effectively shuts down any petition they may bring forth as the Citizen Initiative Act prohibits any similar proposal to be approved. The Act says

“(5) An application must not relate to a proposal that in the opinion of the Chief Electoral Officer is the same as or substantially similar to

(a) a proposal that, within the last 5 years, was the subject of an unsuccessful referendum under section 15 or 16 or an unsuccessful initiative vote under section 18, …”