Jeffrey Rath, leader of the Alberta Prosperity Project, says the separatists now have enough signatures to force a referendum on independence for Oct. 19.

He claims that petition signatures “crush” the 177,732 required for a referendum on Alberta leaving Canada.

Rath winds up fast, and he doesn’t spare Premier Danielle Smith.

“At some point, Danielle’s going to realize that this referendum is going to win, and that continuing to parrot her little federalist slogans makes her look like a drunk lighting cigars with $100 bills,” he said in an interview.

Talk that the signature hurdle has been cleared went around separatist circles on the weekend. The deadline for signature collection is May 2.

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Rath says leaders put out the word to counter “misinformation” about support for their question on leaving Canada.

“My understanding is that the current count could be as high as 200,000 and we’ve got 29 boxes on the way, which conservatively have at least 43,000 signatures.

“We’ve absolutely crushed the statutory requirements, with many, many more signatures on the way.

“A bunch of the Forever Canadian online trolls have been suggesting that the canvass is going really badly, and that we’re disorganized and that we’re not getting the signatures required.

“So, we wanted to address that.”

He also claims the pro-Canada group cheated to get more than 400,000 signatures.

Thomas Lukaszuk, who launched the Forever Canadian petition, says, “Those comments are quite offensive, obviously.

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“How can he say that? For goodness sake, he’s a lawyer.

“But I am not at all surprised that he got the signatures, having been quarterbacked by government every step of the way.”

The official separatist question is: “Do you agree that the Province of Alberta should cease to be a part of Canada to become an independent state?”

Rath said it’s important to keep pushing for signatures because, “the more there are, the more pressure this is going to put on the government.

“And maybe Danielle Smith will stop with the nonsense — this strong-Alberta-in-a-united Canada nonsense.

“We have 30 days left, and we’re encouraging everybody to canvass and sign as if the lives of their kids and their grandkids depend on it, because they do.”

Rath goes back and forth in his views of the premier, swinging between sharp criticism and approval of some policies.

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He’s delighted that Smith is making legal changes that allow proponents to have scrutineers at signature-counting.

“We think that’s wonderful, because we don’t trust Elections Alberta further than we can pick them up and throw them,” he said in an interview.

“We have no faith in them and apparently the government doesn’t either, because they’re going to pass legislation to allow us to have scrutineers.”

Robyn Bell of Elections Alberta said the organization is governed by provincial law, and “this is conducted with impartiality at all times.

“As a non-partisan office of the legislature, we take no position and have no stake in the outcome of any electoral process.”

The latest legal changes, announced Monday, are the third the government has made to referendum rules.

The stakes will be high, both in counting petition signatures and votes in any full referendum on separation.

Whatever the result, Albertans will need confidence that it’s honest.

Rath expects the separatist question to be stand-alone, at the top of the numerous questions Smith will ask Albertans in the fall referendum.

They include benefits for temporary residents, health care and constitutional powers.

“She said on the weekend that the independence question gets counted first and, if we win, they’re not even going to count the other ones,” Rath concludes.

This is an odd point, because Smith has given exactly that impression, while her office maintains that she only means the independence question will be counted before the others.

This is a steaming pot of emotion and conflict.

Count on Rath to keep stirring.

Don Braid’s column appears in the Calgary Herald

X and Bluesky: @DonBraid

© Calgary Herald