There may never be confirmation of exactly how many citizens signed Stay Free Alberta’s petition for a separatist referendum but Premier Danielle Smith is forging ahead with the Oct. 19 referendum “in the spirit of the law” of the Elections Act the UCP government passed.

Smith told callers during her regular Saturday morning Calgary radio program, Your Province Your Premier, that the reported 300,000 signatures will never be validated.

“The court stopped Elections Alberta from validating the 300,000 signatures achieved by Stay Free Alberta. Elections Alberta has the boxes, they’ve been told by the court they can’t count them. There’s no way to validate them,” Smith said.

“So I just have to, in good faith, look at that and say they needed to get 177 (thousand). They submitted 300 (thousand). The other (Forever Canada) petition got validated at 400 (thousand). That’s why I think, in order to follow the spirit of the citizen petition law, that’s why I put forth what we did,” she said, adding she doesn’t want to be a “gatekeeper,” reiterating her decision to challenge a King’s Court bench decision to quash the referendum.

“We think that the court misunderstands the law,” she said.

“We’re trying to be permissive in what Albertans are able to ask their fellow citizens, the duty to consult falls on us as a government, depending on what Albertans ask us to do. So, I think that they erred in not allowing that to go forward.”

A caller named Linda from Calgary doubted Smith’s numbers.

“I’m questioning the 700,000-person number that you’ve said wanted a referendum … There were two petitions raised in Alberta, one asking for a referendum on separation, and I think the other one was from 400,000 people who signed a petition that said they want to stay in Alberta. Am I wrong in thinking that 400,000 people don’t want the referendum?”

“That’s not what the petition said,” Smith said, suggesting that petition originator Thomas Lukaszuk changed his mind after the petition was formed.

Moderator Wayne Nelson reminded Smith the referendum has lost some people.

“Separatist hardliners within the party, like Jeffrey Rath, say you’ve watered down the question, and they’re threatening to oust you. You’re between a rock and a hard place. How do you fight back, or how can you?” Nelson asked.

Smith said she doesn’t expect to make anyone happy.

“I’m sure whatever I say is going to upset 100 per cent of the people listening, because there’s three different groups,” she said.

“We have laws in the province, we have laws on citizen initiatives, so that if citizens manage to get 177,000 signatures on a petition campaign, they’re wanting their fellow citizens to have a vote,” she said, referring to the new law her UCP government passed in 2025, the Election Statutes Amendment Act, 2025. Bill 54 changed Alberta’s election laws, amending seven separate statutes, including the Referendum Act, the Citizen Initiative Act and the Recall Act.

“People thought that I was going to change the recall laws when there were 26 recall petitions. That’s how it works. I mean, when you put these provisions in place and people exercise their right to do that, you should honour the laws if you’re going to be the premier of the province,” she said.

Smith said for those who want to remain in Canada, “your question’s on the ballot.”

“Do you want to remain in Canada? You could vote for that option,” she said.

“For those who want to leave, I would say that the court has determined that there’s a very, very long legal process you have to go through in order to be able to get a definitive yes or no question on the ballot. And so we wanted to ask, do people even want us to go down this pathway? Do they want us to start the legal process that may include Indigenous consultation, may include having the House of Commons approve the question, may improve months of preparation before that’s put forward, it will take some time, but do you even want us to start the process?” she said.

“So, I think I’ll be able to get a good indication from Albertans about which direction they want to go, and I need to hear it,” Smith said, adding she has seen polling that suggests as many as 35 per cent of Albertans have given up on the country, “and I haven’t.”

Hence the nine questions bundled with the referendum, she indicated.

“That’s what my nine questions are about, is if you want to have a protest, because there are a lot of people out there who want to vote to leave, just because they want to send a message to the East, and I would say send the message by giving me a strong mandate on the nine questions I’m asking about the Senate and about provincial jurisdiction and about appointing judges to the court and about immigration,” she said.

“That’s the way that you send a very strong message that you don’t like the way things are right now. We need to fix them, but we’re willing to work together to fix them.”

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