EDMONTON — A bid by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservatives to hold a potential vote on Alberta quitting Canada took a step forward Thursday — but not without some drama.
Three members of Smith’s UCP caucus passed a motion in committee asking her and her cabinet to put the issue to a referendum on Oct. 19.
The vote split along party lines. The three UCP members used their majority to vote down two no votes from the Opposition NDP.
When it was over, an unidentified man in the gallery began shouting.
“Shame on you! Shame on you! Traitors! Traitors! All of you traitors!” he yelled as he was hustled out by security.
The issue now moves to Smith and her cabinet.
The premier is set to deliver a TV address Thursday night amid speculation about a referendum.
Albertans are already scheduled for an Oct. 19 vote on nine referendum questions about immigration reform and constitutional concerns.
The outcome of Thursday’s vote was considered a foregone conclusion given a communications blunder a day earlier.
While the motion was still being debated, the UCP caucus issued a news release saying the vote had been held and the motion passed.
The NDP said the premature release challenged the integrity of the process and the impartiality of the committee chair, UCP backbencher Brandon Lunty.
The committee eventually voted to move on but not before the allotted time ran out, forcing a redo Thursday.
The motion urges Smith to call a vote based on a pro-Canada petition campaign organized by former Alberta deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk.
Signed by more than 400,000, it calls for the referendum question: “Do you agree that Alberta should remain in Canada?”
Lukaszuk has said he would like to see the petition force a referendum but also lead legislature members to affirming in a house vote their commitment to Canada.
On Wednesday, UCP committee members hammered Lukaszuk with questions about whether he wants a referendum.
Lukaszuk said it doesn’t matter what he wants, as it’s up to the government. He suggested the UCP is trying to use him and his petition as cover to hold a separation vote.
“If you choose to put any question you want to a referendum, you will be the proponent of a referendum of breaking up Canada, and you will bear all the consequences of that position,” he said.
On Thursday, NDP committee member Rakhi Pancholi accused the government of twisting Lukaszuk’s petition to force a separation vote while a second petition spearheaded by separatists is tied up in the courts.
Pancholi said no matter how it’s presented, Smith must own that she alone is launching a process that could break up the country.
“It is her referendum,” Pancholi said.
“The UCP is making a decision to launch their referendum on separatism.
“It’s just a continuation of the sham that this government treats democracy with.”
UCP members said public comments from petition signers and Lukaszuk show a referendum is what they want.
“It’s up to us to decide whether we want to respect that ask of those 400,000 Albertans,” said UCP committee member Jason Nixon.
Before Smith’s TV address, there was reaction to what would happen if she calls for a vote to separate.
In North Vancouver, federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said he and all Conservative members of Parliament would press for Alberta to remain part of Canada in a referendum campaign.
“I’m a strong Canadian federalist, a proud Albertan and a proud Canadian. I want a strong Alberta within a united Canada,” Poilievre said.
It has been a long, tortuous journey involving two petitions on Alberta’s place in Canada.
Lukaszuk began gathering signatures a year ago with the banner Forever Canadian. Under previous provincial rules, he needed just under 300,000 signatures to force the government to consider the issue. Elections Alberta certified the petition at the end of the year.
Up until this week, the government had done little to act on it, other than to send it to Lunty’s committee for recommendations on how to proceed.
The competing separatist petition, organized by the group Stay Free Alberta, started strong then hit the ditch. Its question: “Do you agree that the province of Alberta should cease to be a part of Canada to become an independent state?”
Under new legislation from Smith’s government, Stay Free organizers needed roughly 178,000 names.
Last year, Elections Alberta asked the courts whether the question was constitutional. Before the judge could rule, Smith’s government changed the law again, voiding the agency’s right to put such questions to the courts.
The judge issued his ruling anyway, saying the question would indeed violate the Constitution.
Stay Free Alberta’s second attempt at a petition was issued in January, and three weeks ago the group submitted what it said were more than 300,000 signatures.
That petition was put in legal limbo last week. Several First Nations challenged it in court, arguing it violates treaty rights.
A judge agreed last week, and Smith promised to appeal what she called an “anti-democratic” decision.
The NDP has accused Smith of being both arsonist and firefighter, proclaiming she loves a united Canada while clearing the path for a vote on separation.
They say she’s walking a political tightrope, championing Canada to stay onside with most Albertans while knocking aside obstacles to a separation vote to appease hardliners in her caucus and party.
Smith has said she’s a Canadian patriot but voices of those disaffected deserve to be heard.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 21, 2026.
— With files from Wolfgang Depner in Victoria
Lisa Johnson, The Canadian Press
