Citizen Initiative Application Update

July 28, 2025

EDMONTON – Alberta’s Chief Electoral Officer, Gordon McClure, confirms he has stated a question to the Court of King’s Bench under Section 2.1(1) of the Citizen Initiative Act, with respect to a constitutional referendum proposal application submitted by Mitch Sylvestre and received by Elections Alberta on July 4, 2025.

This case seeks the opinion of the Court as to whether Mr. Sylvestre’s proposal conforms with the requirements of sections 2 (4) of the Act. The question was stated to the Court on July 28, 2025.

The constitutional referendum question proposed in Mr. Sylvestre’s application is:

Do you agree that the Province of Alberta shall become a sovereign country and cease to be a province in Canada?

Specifically, section 2(4) of the Citizen Initiative Act states:

2(4) An initiative petition proposal must not contravene sections 1 to 35.1 of the Constitution Act, 1982.

As required by section 2.1(2), both the applicant and the Minister of Justice of Alberta have been provided written notification of the referral.

The Court will schedule a proceeding in accordance with section 2.1(2)(c) of the Citizen Initiative Act.

Status on this application may be viewed on Elections Alberta’s website. The Alberta Court of King’s Bench File Number will be added when it is received from the Court.

For more information, please refer to the following resources:

• Citizen Initiative Process
• Citizen Initiative FAQs
• Citizen Initiative Act Fact Sheet – amendments as of July 4, 2025
• Citizen Initiative Act

Elections Alberta is an independent, non-partisan office of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta responsible for administering provincial elections, by-elections, and referendums.

For media inquiries, please contact:
Michelle Gurney
Media Relations
Phone:  403.431.0759
Email:    media@elections.ab.ca

Posted in: Uncategorized