Juno News - November 02, 2025


Lukaszuk backpedals after petition hits signature threshold


Episode Stats

Length

19 minutes

Words per Minute

172.52673

Word Count

3,389

Sentence Count

175

Misogynist Sentences

1


Summary

This week, former Alberta cabinet minister Thomas Lukaszak is under fire after submitting a citizens initiative petition only to later claim he doesn t want a referendum at all, a move constitutional lawyers are calling misleading to his signatories. Meanwhile, thousands gathered at the Alberta legislature for a separatist rally, marking the biggest independence rally in the province s history. Alberta's teachers' strike drags on, and unions threaten a general strike that could paralyze the province, vowing to topple the Smith government over her new back to school act. All that and more on this week's Alberta Roundup.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 This week, former Alberta cabinet minister Thomas Lukaszak is under fire after submitting a
00:00:15.720 citizens initiative petition only to later claim he doesn't want a referendum at all,
00:00:20.280 a move constitutional lawyers are calling misleading to his signatories. Meanwhile,
00:00:25.320 thousands gathered at the Alberta legislature for a major separatist rally,
00:00:29.280 marking the biggest independence rally in the province's history. Alberta NDP leader Nahid
00:00:34.980 Nenshi is escalating his feud with Premier Danielle Smith, dismissing her pipeline ambitions as a pipe
00:00:41.120 dream, even as the province pushes ahead with plans for West East and West Coast routes. The province
00:00:47.180 is also introducing sweeping public safety legislation to expand policing powers, strengthen
00:00:51.900 Claire's Law, and modernize inmate transfer rules. And as the teachers' strike drags on, unions threaten
00:00:58.200 a general strike that could paralyze the province, vowing to topple the Smith government over her new
00:01:03.720 back-to-school act. All that and more on this week's Alberta Roundup. I'm your host, Isaac Lamoureux,
00:01:08.520 and let's get into that first story right away. Former Progressive Conservative Cabinet Minister
00:01:12.600 Thomas Lukaszak is being accused of failing to deliver after disavowing a referendum despite
00:01:18.200 successfully exceeding the signature threshold for his citizens initiative petition. Lukaszak's surprise
00:01:24.840 announcement that he was not seeking to hold a referendum sparked both concerns from constitutional
00:01:29.800 lawyers and praise from the Alberta independence movement. Constitutional lawyer Keith Wilson
00:01:35.480 suggested that Lukaszak misled the 456,365 signatories of his petition that he presented to Elections
00:01:43.160 Alberta on Tuesday. He said, quote,
00:01:45.080 Thomas, tell the truth. Your petition calls for a referendum. Here is the legal application you
00:01:49.640 signed. Did you lie to your supporters to get their signatures? And he of course attached a copy of
00:01:53.960 Lukaszak's petition application that he filed with Elections Alberta. Lukaszak's petition,
00:01:58.440 received by the Chief Electoral Office on June 5, describes his initiative as a legislative or policy
00:02:04.040 proposal, not a constitutional referendum. Because he filed before the Citizens Initiative Amendment Act,
00:02:09.080 Bill 54, was proclaimed, he faced a much higher threshold than had he waited, which was 293,976
00:02:16.040 signatures or 10% of provincial electors in the post-election day list within 90 days. The wording
00:02:22.120 of the petition clearly asks signatories if they support a referendum. It reads, quote,
00:02:27.000 Therefore, we, as represented by the signatory and applicant below, propose a referendum on the
00:02:32.600 following question. Do you agree that Alberta should remain in Canada? So despite asking signatories to
00:02:37.560 sign in support of a referendum and surpassing the threshold, Lukaszak is now saying that he
00:02:42.200 doesn't want a referendum at all. He said, quote,
00:02:44.840 We knew that the vast majority of Albertans want to remain Canadian. Hence, we are not asking for a
00:02:49.320 referendum. We already know that we are Canadian and we will always be Canadian. We are asking the
00:02:54.360 Premier to do the right thing and ask Alberta MLAs to vote on this issue and put separatism to bed
00:02:59.240 once and for all. Other Alberta independence figures quickly joined Wilson in challenging Lukaszak's
00:03:04.360 claims. For example, Alberta Prosperity Project General Counsel Jeffrey Rath said, quote,
00:03:09.480 Tommy lied to Elections Alberta. He's now saying he never wanted a referendum. And take back Alberta
00:03:15.240 leader David Parker said, quote, I love that the Forever Canadians gave us our referendum. Thanks,
00:03:20.280 guys. You saved us a lot of work. Even Alberta Premier Danielle Smith previously confirmed that
00:03:25.480 Lukaszak's proposed referendum was a question on separation. In fact, take a quick listen of what
00:03:30.840 she had to say. Mr. Lukaszak's vote is a yes, no question. It is a separatist referendum. He may
00:03:38.680 be trying to characterize it differently. But if you ask people if you want to remain in Alberta,
00:03:43.240 yes or no, there are implications if people answer no. Once a citizen-initiated petition is certified,
00:03:49.800 it must be tabled in the legislature within 15 days of the next sitting according to Elections Alberta.
00:03:54.920 The government then has 10 sitting days to refer it to a legislative committee. Within 90 days,
00:03:59.960 that committee can recommend that either a bill be introduced or the matter be referred to the
00:04:03.880 Lieutenant Governor in council for a referendum. If a referendum is recommended, it must occur no
00:04:09.160 later than the next provincial election. If that election is less than a year away,
00:04:13.000 it must happen before the one that follows. But we'll stick with separation and go back to last
00:04:18.280 weekend for our next story. Because the Alberta legislature was a wash in blue as thousands of
00:04:23.640 Albertans attended the I Am Alberta rally last Saturday afternoon to support Alberta sovereignty
00:04:28.840 and independence. In fact, I'm sure that many of you guys were there and maybe even some of us
00:04:32.760 spoke. Jeffrey Rath, the general counsel for the Alberta Prosperity Project, estimated that over
00:04:37.480 10,000 people attended, noting that only 15 to 20 counter-protesters were present,
00:04:42.360 and he commended the Alberta sheriffs for their work. But sticking with Lukaszek's petition,
00:04:46.760 here's what Myrna told me about his petition when we spoke. Take a quick listen of what she had to say.
00:04:51.560 And speaking of unity on the left, what do you think of Thomas Lukaszek's pro-Canada movement and his
00:04:56.680 petition going around? Well, it just astounds me that anyone would be okay with the status quo.
00:05:06.600 I think they should have called it the forever screwed petition personally. Like how anyone can be
00:05:15.000 content with the deal that the West has had since the beginning. It's just hard to understand. I think a
00:05:22.840 lot of people signing it are in love with the Canada that existed 50 years ago and aren't aware of where
00:05:30.040 we're at nowadays.
00:05:31.400 Speaker's at the event included Whistle Stop Cafe owner Chris Scott, APP CEO Mitch Sylvester,
00:05:38.040 constitutional lawyers Jeffrey Rath and Keith Wilson, and of course John Bolton was the MC.
00:05:42.360 Common themes among the speakers were freedom, sovereignty, and democracy. And the crowd
00:05:46.360 alternated between cheering for pro-independence and democracy themes and booing when Ottawa's
00:05:51.000 intrusion into the lives of Albertans was mentioned. Constitutional lawyer Keith Wilson warned that
00:05:55.640 if Albertans thought things were bad now, they were only destined to get worse under a federal
00:05:59.880 government pursuing Bill C-9 to censor free speech. He said, quote, we just want to get
00:06:04.600 Ottawa's knee off our neck. Wilson also pledged a province-wide referendum by 2026. He tasked rally
00:06:11.480 attendees with discussing the benefits of Alberta sovereignty with everyone they know, arguing that
00:06:16.520 the uncertainty of an independent Alberta was less frightening than the certainty of a dystopian
00:06:22.280 federal government in Ottawa. Scott declared the referendum would be the most important action
00:06:27.000 Albertans take in their entire lifetime. And Sylvester used the rally to create a rallying
00:06:32.040 cry for the movement. While Prime Minister Mark Carney campaigned on the Elbows Up movement,
00:06:37.000 Sylvester said that Alberta separatists will use Come On Let's Go similarly using hockey fights as a
00:06:42.760 baseline. Rath suggested October 25 could be known as the Alberta Independence Day going forward. He claimed
00:06:49.000 that under the Carney government, Canada has become one of the most corrupt countries globally, citing the
00:06:54.440 World Economic Forum's connection to some Liberal Party members. He criticized other Canadian politicians
00:06:59.880 too, explaining that Ontario Premier Doug Ford threatened to cut off American oil without
00:07:04.200 realizing that oil reaching Ontario must first pass through the United States. He also criticized former
00:07:09.240 Environment Minister Stephen Guibault for not knowing that Canada did not have a cross-country pipeline.
00:07:15.160 Rath also celebrated his and his team's recent trip to the United States, claiming that US President Donald
00:07:20.840 Trump's administration showed ample support for Alberta becoming an independent country. Rath stated
00:07:26.200 that 70-75% of the Alberta UCP's board supports independence and urged rally attendees to attend the
00:07:33.240 upcoming AGM to increase that support to 100%. I spoke with Rath after the event and he said, quote,
00:07:40.440 Today was a massive day for the Alberta freedom movement. The biggest independence rally in Alberta's
00:07:45.400 history was held on the steps of the legislature today. Hopefully it sends a really strong message to
00:07:50.360 both Danielle Smith and Mark Carney that we don't give a about what they're doing anymore. We're out,
00:07:56.200 we're done. And our next story is actually an exclusive thanks to the fact that I've been spending
00:08:00.840 Monday to Thursday at the Alberta legislature for this session. And last Thursday, I was able to
00:08:06.200 question Alberta NDP leader Nahid Nenshi at a press conference there. Nenshi slammed Premier
00:08:11.640 Daniel Smith's proposed West Coast pipeline, dismissing it as a quote,
00:08:15.400 pipe dream and accusing the government of squandering taxpayer dollars on a project that he claims
00:08:20.920 doesn't exist. Nenshi told True North that his party has a proven record on pipeline construction
00:08:26.360 while the UCP does not. He said, quote, there's precisely one government that has gotten a pipeline
00:08:31.320 to Tidewater build. It was not a conservative government. It was in fact Rachel Notley and the
00:08:35.560 new Democrats who got it built with, if I might say, an able assist from the then mayor of Calgary.
00:08:41.160 Smith recently pressed for new pipelines to reach global markets at a committee meeting,
00:08:45.080 pledging to double her province's oil production if Ottawa clears regulatory barriers. She cited
00:08:51.400 regulatory burden and uncertainty resulting in the cancellation or delay of the Northern Gateway,
00:08:56.440 Keystone XL, and Energy East pipelines. She highlighted that those projects would have
00:09:01.320 generated an additional 2.5 million barrels a day in production, equating to $55 billion worth of GDP,
00:09:08.840 40% of which the governments would take, split almost equally, between the federal and provincial
00:09:14.120 governments, meaning between $10 to $15 billion of additional tax revenue annually.
00:09:19.080 Smith's government outlined its plan to partner with First Nations and industry to build new pipelines
00:09:23.640 to Canada's West Coast and Southeastern Ontario in last week's throne speech.
00:09:28.520 The Alberta Premier has been at odds with BC Premier David Eby on the possibility of a West Coast pipeline.
00:09:34.120 Smith called Eby un-Canadian and unconstitutional for his stance, and Eby has repeatedly attacked Smith in response,
00:09:41.560 criticizing the pipeline while, like Nenshi, simultaneously arguing that it doesn't exist.
00:09:46.760 And of course, as I said there, Nenshi echoed similar talking points. He said, quote,
00:09:51.320 What the Premier is doing is not a pipeline. It's a pipe dream. He continued by saying, quote,
00:09:56.440 How can it be on the major projects list when there's no projects? There's no investor. There's
00:10:00.280 no proponent. There's no consultation. There's no consent. There's not even a route. This is not how
00:10:05.560 you get a pipeline built. There is a much better way for us to be able to move forward to ensure
00:10:09.800 that we have the energy exports that we need to supply the world with safe, clean, reliable energy.
00:10:15.000 So as I've discussed before on the show, Alberta has pledged $14 million for early planning,
00:10:19.800 which includes route assessment, engineering, cost estimates, and indigenous engagement.
00:10:25.160 The province hopes the Federal Major Projects Office will approve the pipeline and that it will
00:10:29.240 be part of the second wave of major projects announced by the Grey Cup in November.
00:10:33.560 Smith previously said, quote, There is no universe where Alberta will tolerate being landlocked in our
00:10:39.240 own country by our neighboring province, especially when the same industry he continues to demonize
00:10:45.160 has generated so much wealth for his province and the country.
00:10:49.000 Smith has also warned the federal government that if it does not approve a west coast pipeline,
00:10:53.160 she will turn south, arguing that the United States has shown interest in pipelines.
00:10:57.560 She said, quote, If we can't build cross-border infrastructure and we can't get our products to
00:11:02.040 market, then we're violating what it is that the founders came together to build Canada in the first
00:11:07.240 place. Let's go back to the idea of what Canada is supposed to be. Let's get these kind of projects
00:11:12.120 built. Let's find new markets. Let's work together on that. But for our next story,
00:11:16.280 we're going to swap gears a bit because we'll talk about a bill that was introduced on Thursday.
00:11:20.280 And to start that off, I'll show a quick clip of me in the legislature.
00:11:23.640 Yeah, guys, so I'm here at the Alberta legislature. Just got out of the press conference for Bill 4,
00:11:27.880 which we'll shortly run a clip for. But yeah, just to let you guys know, I'll be in the legislature
00:11:32.040 every week, Monday to Thursday, covering the happenings in the chamber. So definitely expect
00:11:35.800 a lot more articles and reporting on that. Live from the legislature here,
00:11:39.480 as Glamour True North. So Alberta's government has introduced sweeping new legislation to expand
00:11:44.040 provincial policing powers, enhance protections for victims of domestic violence, and modernize
00:11:49.480 inmate transfer rules under new public safety legislation. Public Safety and Emergency Services
00:11:54.840 Minister Mike Ellis tabled Bill 4, the Public Safety and Emergency Services Statute Amendment Act
00:12:00.520 2025 No. 2 on Thursday. He said, quote,
00:12:03.480 This legislation strengthens the laws that keep Albertans safe. It builds a strong foundation for
00:12:08.520 the new Alberta Sheriff's Police Service, ensures people at risk of domestic violence can quickly
00:12:13.320 get the information they need to protect themselves, and modernizes how our correctional system operates.
00:12:19.080 The bill formalizes the transition toward a made-in-Alberta policing model by expanding the powers of
00:12:23.960 Alberta sheriffs and creating a framework for joint operations with municipal and federal agencies.
00:12:29.240 The Alberta Sheriff's Police Service will function as an independent provincial police service
00:12:33.800 designed to complement existing law enforcement agencies, including the RCMP, First Nations Police
00:12:39.960 Services, and Municipal Forces, but it is intended to give municipalities another option for their
00:12:45.880 policing needs. The RCMP will continue to serve as Alberta's primary provincial police force while the
00:12:51.160 ASPS develops operational capacity. As for the RCMP, though, take a quick listen to what Ellis had to
00:12:56.840 say in response to me at a press conference about their continued policing efforts.
00:13:01.400 We do have time for one more question here from the floor. Isaac, I see you had your hand up. You can go
00:13:05.240 ahead. Hi, Minister Isaac Lambert of True North. In the documents you set out today, I only saw
00:13:10.280 one mention of the RCMP and its continued policing efforts in the province. So I'm curious,
00:13:14.920 has the RCMP or Ottawa fulfilled their promise of officer additions in Alberta?
00:13:20.120 Well, look, I just got back from a federal provincial territorial meeting, and I mean,
00:13:30.680 I'll just say this. Manitoba, they had indicated that their authorized strength level is short by 30%.
00:13:39.080 Saskatchewan had indicated they're short by 25%. You know, in our jurisdiction, we hover anywhere from
00:13:46.440 16% to 20% shortage, and other provinces that all have that same issue. So as I said to the
00:13:55.640 minister of Manitoba, like this is the same number that you gave us last year. So the question was,
00:14:03.640 you haven't seen any marked improvements in when it comes to authorized strength levels. So look,
00:14:09.240 I can't wait for the RCMP to figure out how they're going to recruit, how they're going to train, how they are going to
00:14:17.400 fulfill the authorized strength gaps that they have all throughout Canada. My concern, as I've stated many,
00:14:23.640 many times before, when somebody calls 911, my expectation is somebody show up to that call.
00:14:31.080 Did you have a follow-up party?
00:14:32.440 Yeah, I'm just wondering if there's been any
00:14:34.440 discussions with Ottawa about what a transition process away from the RCMP might look like.
00:14:40.120 Yeah, I think the Minister Anger-Kasari, obviously there's
00:14:45.880 varying opinions on this, and Minister Anger-Kasari had indicated to all the provinces that he is open
00:14:55.480 to any and all discussions.
00:14:56.760 The legislation also enhances the Disclosure to Protect Against Domestic Violence Act, or Claire's Law,
00:15:02.760 by giving the Integrated Threat and Risk Assessment Centre clear legal authority to access and disclose
00:15:08.520 police information during threat assessments. Claire's Law allows Albertans at risk of domestic
00:15:13.160 violence to request or be proactively given information from police about a partner's history
00:15:17.720 of violence, stalking, or harassment, helping them make informed choices about their safety.
00:15:22.760 The Alberta government said the amendments to Claire's Law would reduce red tape,
00:15:26.360 minimize delays, and make sharing information easier between police and citizens.
00:15:31.080 The bill also amends the Corrections Act to give Alberta clear authority to negotiate
00:15:35.240 inmate transfers with other provinces and territories. The changes are intended to improve
00:15:39.240 coordination and allow transfers during emergencies like wildfires or when offenders have legal matters
00:15:44.040 in other jurisdictions. According to the province, the reforms align Alberta's correctional
00:15:48.200 system with practices across Canada and are part of the government's broader commitment to
00:15:52.680 strengthen public safety through practical and efficient reforms.
00:15:55.640 But for our last story today, we'll quickly cover unions threatening a general strike.
00:16:00.440 Alberta's top labour leaders are threatening a province-wide general strike and recall campaigns
00:16:05.320 following the passage of the Back to School Act, which ended the province's teachers' strike.
00:16:10.200 The legislation forced teachers back to work and invoked the Notwithstanding Clause to prevent
00:16:14.680 further legal challenges. Gil McGowan, the President of the Alberta Federation of Labour,
00:16:20.040 said Premier Smith had awakened a sleeping giant. He said, quote,
00:16:24.200 Danielle Smith has awakened a sleeping giant when she took the unprecedented step of using the
00:16:28.600 Notwithstanding Clause. She has galvanized unions in this province and across the country like never
00:16:34.280 before. He said the AFL and its affiliates now share a common purpose. He said, quote,
00:16:39.320 The purpose is to topple this government. If they won't shrink the size of our classrooms,
00:16:43.880 we will shrink the size of their caucus. The Federation has launched a campaign called
00:16:48.120 Ready to Resist, claiming nearly 30,000 sign-ups in the first week. The initiative will poll its
00:16:53.560 members on their willingness to participate in a province-wide coordinated job action. He said the
00:16:58.680 process has begun for a potential general strike. He accused Smith's government of advancing a MAGA-style
00:17:04.440 agenda and said the province's unions would throw sand in the gears of this government. McGowan also
00:17:09.880 announced plans to mobilize around recall campaigns against UCP MLAs and new citizen initiative
00:17:15.640 petitions targeting independent school funding. He said, quote, We're going to use the tools that
00:17:21.480 she created against her, referencing Alberta's citizen initiative and recall legislation.
00:17:26.760 According to Elections Alberta, inducements for recall campaigns are not permitted. True North
00:17:32.520 previously highlighted critics' warnings that the petition to strip funding from accredited
00:17:37.400 independent schools would dismantle Alberta's long-standing school choice model, forcing 55,000
00:17:42.840 students out of specialized programs and back into overcrowded public classrooms. McGowan,
00:17:48.760 during his press conference, also lied about Alberta's school funding model. He claimed the
00:17:52.760 provincial government was, quote, starving public schools while shoveling public money at private
00:17:57.160 schools, but of course that is in no way, shape, or form how it works. The province's system,
00:18:01.560 which McGowan should know because it's been in place in some form since the 1970s,
00:18:06.120 allows up to 70% of per-student operational funding to follow children to independent schools.
00:18:12.200 Therefore, if students attending independent schools were forced back to public schools,
00:18:15.960 it would actually cost taxpayers an additional approximate $300 million. And any discrepancy
00:18:21.560 between public school and independent school funding is due to differences in enrollment growth.
00:18:26.440 Smith's government, of course, invoked the Notwithstanding Clause, Section 33, while implementing its
00:18:31.080 back-to-work legislation to force teachers back to school on Wednesday after 740,000 students were
00:18:37.080 away from class for almost a month. And speaking of the Notwithstanding Clause, former Premier Jason
00:18:42.440 Kenney previously defended it as an essential part of Canada's constitutional compromise, telling True
00:18:48.120 North in September that any attempt to restrict it would be strange and dangerous. He said, quote,
00:18:53.240 the provinces only signed on to the repatriation of the Constitution, including the Charter of Rights,
00:18:59.320 back in 1982, because they included the Section 33 Notwithstanding Clause.
00:19:04.600 Kenney has no democratic mandate to pursue it, and I think it's going to be very divisive in the
00:19:09.400 Federation. McGowan vowed that every union in the coalition would now work towards toppling the
00:19:14.680 government. He said his unions won't behave like the Freedom Convoy, which he called mega-inspired and mega-funded.
00:19:23.240 He also called Smith a bully and said she, quote, is the one who should be afraid. McGowan also alleged
00:19:29.720 that Smith was buying off her own caucus. But that wraps up this week's Alberta Roundup.
00:19:34.680 My name's Isaac Lamoureux. Have a great weekend, thank you, and God bless.