Alberta separatists win partial victory in court on referendum petition

An Alberta Court of Appeal judge ruled Monday that Elections Alberta can begin verifying signatures on a citizens' petition calling for a referendum on the province's independence.

An Alberta judge says signatures on a citizens’ petition calling for a referendum on Alberta’s independence from Canada can be counted and verified.

The ruling by Alberta Court of Appeal Justice Alice Woolley was released Monday after she reserved her decision earlier this month on whether to set aside an earlier court ruling that quashed an Alberta separatist group’s referendum petition.

At the time of the hearing, Woolley said she had some concerns with parts of the earlier court judgement.

Jeff Rath, a lawyer for the petition group Stay Free Alberta, had applied for the stay of decision so Elections Alberta can verify the petition’s signatures.

The group submitted its petition in May claiming to have collected nearly 302,000 names, but the original court ruling was made just days later, before the verification process could begin.

Stay Free Alberta’s petition called for a direct referendum question on the province quitting Canada.

Instead, the Alberta government will hold a referendum this fall asking if Alberta should remain a province of Canada or “should the Government of Alberta commence the legal process required under the Canadian Constitution to hold a binding provincial referendum on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada?”

It is unclear however how the court ruling may affect the government’s referendum plans.