Juno News - Lukaszuk backpedals after petition hits signature threshold

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 0.99

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.

Juno News - November 02, 2025

Lukaszuk backpedals after petition hits signature threshold

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