The INDEPENDENCE vote might have been TRIGGERED - Thanks Mr. Lukaszuk
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
159.44576
Summary
It is quite possible that we have been notified of an independence referendum coming up in 2026. I have some questions for Chief Electoral Officer Gordon McClure regarding this and I have a question for Premier Rachel Notley.
Transcript
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Hi, it's John and welcome to the channel. It is 10 minutes before 4, Monday, December 1st.
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Hope you're having a great Monday and a great start to your December as well. I've got my big
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blue mug of coffee. I think it would be a stretch to suggest that the independence movement here
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in Alberta was going to get a Christmas present, something before Christmas. But today it's quite
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possible that we were notified of an independence vote coming up in 2026. And I got this article,
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actually, I got an email from the Western Standard regarding this article right here.
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Alberta Citizen Initiative Petition Passes Verification. Let me read just a little bit of
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this for you. Elections Alberta has completed verification of the Alberta Forever Canada
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Citizen Initiative Petition, confirming it has met all requirements under the Citizen Initiative Act.
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Chief Electoral Officer Gordon McClure announced the petition, led by former Alberta Cabinet
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Minister Thomas Lukasik, is successful. The petition, which asked Albertans whether the
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province should remain in Canada, required 293,976 signatures or 10 percent of the electors
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from the 2023 provincial election. They got 438,568. Under the Citizens Initiative Act, the Assembly
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must consider the proposal and a committee may recommend a referendum, which would take place
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on or before the next provincial election on October the 18th, 2027, if approved. Lukasik must return and
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it goes on to discuss what Mr. Lukasik has to have done and how this process has gone. Now, his question
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asks whether it says that you want to remain in Canada. Alberta wants to remain in Canada, while the
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independence movement is saying Alberta becomes separate and wants to be outside of Canada. But as the
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premier said regarding Mr. Lukasik's petition, there are implications. Mr. Lukasik's vote is a yes,
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no question. It is a separatist referendum. He may be trying to characterize it differently,
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but if you ask people if you want to remain in Alberta, yes or no, there are implications if people
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answer no. It is a separatist referendum. There are implications if you answer no. The premier of Alberta.
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So I hope some reporter or somebody who knows what's going on right now that has a microphone,
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puts it in front of Premier Daniel Smith in the next day or so and asks her the question,
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Mr. Lukasik and his Citizens Initiative has passed through this process and we're going to possibly have
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a referendum on this. If there is a referendum and people vote no, meaning they don't want to stay in
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Canada, does that mean Alberta leaves? I would like a clear answer on that one myself. I've asked a
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number of people on this channel, a couple of which were lawyers, Jeff Rath here, and I asked Keith
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Wilson, lawyer Keith Wilson on this channel about this, and this is what he had to say.
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Jeff Rath. Whoever goes through that pathway, whether it's Lukasik and the Forever Canada
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Crew or the Independence Group through Alberta Prosperity Project, at the end of the day, what
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both of them do is cause the Premier and her Cabinet to say, all right, are we holding a referendum?
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When are we holding it? And what is the question going to be? So Lukasik has effectively
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shortened the process and expedited the process for there to be a province-wide referendum on
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independence. Thank you very much, Thomas Lukasik. He did not think this through. It's quite remarkable.
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Mr. Lukasik might have triggered a referendum for Alberta to leave the country. It is possible. I've been
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all over this since the very beginning. I said way back when, months ago, that we ignore this at our
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peril, but I also had many questions about this. I wrote to Gordon McClure, those of you who have been
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to the channel for some time, Gordon McClure, the Chief Electoral Officer, I wrote to him and asked him
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a number of questions that I wanted answered because I wanted to know how you could have a referendum
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and the outcome is the same, regardless of how you vote, yes or no. Now, please ignore the fact that
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I'm wearing a cowboy hat here. It was right before the stampede, but these are the questions I asked
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of Chief Electoral Officer, Gordon McClure, months ago. Gordon McClure is the Chief Electoral Officer of
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Alberta, from me, in Calgary. Subject, questions regarding the recent approval of Citizens Initiative
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referendum. I'm writing to seek clarity regarding the recent approval of a Citizens Initiative for a
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referendum on the question, Do you agree that Alberta should remain in Canada? I would appreciate
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it if you could address the following questions concerning your approval of this initiative.
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1. Assuming the response options for this question are yes or no, what would be the outcome if a majority of
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Albertans vote no? 2. If the outcome remains the same regardless of how people vote, what is the
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purpose of this referendum question? More importantly, why was it approved? 3. Should time, effort, and taxpayer
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money be spent on a referendum that, regardless of the result, maintains the status quo? 4. If the purpose of
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this referendum is purely partisan, to pressure the Premier into supporting the petition, which appears
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to be the petitioner's intent, see linked below, is this an appropriate use of your office? Your mandate
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states that Elections Alberta is an independent, non-partisan office of the Legislative Assembly
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responsible for administering provincial elections, by-elections, and referenda, and here's the page from
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their website that states exactly that. 5. Is a petition designed to influence or pressure a single
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individual, the Premier, a responsible and non-partisan use of your time and taxpayer resources? Now, there
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may be other questions, but it's really number two that concerns me. If the outcome remains the same
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regardless of how people vote, what is the purpose of this referendum question? More importantly, why was
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it approved? I believe Albertans deserve clear answers to these questions before this initiative
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proceeds any further. Thank you for your time and attention to this matter. I put a link to the
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story I showed you there, and I saw it. John R. Bolton, Calgary, Mackenzie Town. I did get an answer to my
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questions from Gordon McClure, the Chief Electoral Officer, but it didn't answer my questions. It gave me the
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runaround. They basically cut and paste a bunch of paragraphs from the Citizens Initiative Act. That's all
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they did, so I didn't get the answers I wanted. But here's the thing. Mr. Lukasik's question is this,
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quote, do you agree that Alberta should remain within Canada? Unquote. As I said back then, I'm saying
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right now, if I vote no, meaning I don't want Alberta to remain in Canada, I want my vote to count. And if
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enough people say no, Alberta leaves. As the Premier says to Mr. Lukasik, there are implications.
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Mr. Lukasik's vote is a yes-no question. It is a separatist referendum. He may be trying to
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characterize it differently. But if you ask people if you want to remain in Alberta, yes or no,
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there are implications if people answer no. Mr. Lukasik no doubt will be all over Twitter and social
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media. Likely news stories tonight saying how he's done a wonderful thing to keep Alberta within
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Canada. He's probably standing in front of a mirror right now, combing his hair and putting on his
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makeup. But he may have triggered an independence vote here. And all the people that signed his
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petition were fooled into thinking it was about keeping Alberta in Canada. This could be a major
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fail. It could be a huge win for the independence movement. See the grin on my face. Thanks for
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watching. If you liked the video, please give me a thumbs up. Subscribe to the channel. Ring the bell
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for notifications. I'll see you in the next one.