Volunteers brought the Forever Canadian petition to the Fort Macleod Scout Hall on Thursday to collect signatures.
The deadline is approaching for a group collecting signatures on a petition opposing Alberta’s separation from the rest of Canada.
The Forever Canadian petition has topped 230,000 signatures toward the required 300,000 to spark a referendum.
The Forever Canadian petition asks: Do you agree that Alberta should remain in Canada?
The 300,000 signatures are required to meet the threshold set by Elections Alberta to allow a referendum to proceed.
Forever Canadian volunteers were in Fort Macleod on Thursday to collect signatures at the Scout Hall.
The same volunteers were in town last month to collect signatures at a 15th Street residence.
One of the petition proponents is Thomas Lukaszuk, a Progressive Conservative MLA from 2001-’15, who maintains talk of separation will only hurt Alberta.
“History has shown us the economic devastation that results from discussions of separation or secession,” Lukaszuk wrote in a letter on the Forever Canadian Web site. “In the 1970s, when Quebec considered separation, businesses and investments fled the province, and the negative economic effects are felt to this day. That was when the Bank of Montreal and many other prominent companies moved their headquarters from Montreal to Toronto.”
“We have seen similar economic devastation in the United Kingdom during Brexit and in Spain’s Basque region,” Lukaszuk added. “Alberta must not follow that path.”
Lukaszuk wrote that in the present turbulent geopolitical times Canada is building new trade partnerships and military alliances.
“None of this can succeed if we are internally fracture,” Lukaszuk wrote. “In order to be a formidable force on the international stage, we must be united.”
Lukaszuk admitted Canada is not perfect and regional disagreements happen, but the country has strong democratic mechanisms and institutions to negotiate or litigate the differences.
“Threats of secession and weaponizing separatism are not part of our political process or a negotiation tactic,” Lukaszuk wrote. “We must reject those who deploy such measures.”
The petition must be signed in person. For a current list of locations visit www.forever-canadian.ca.
