An appeal court has ruled that Elections Alberta can proceed with signature validation of a petition drive demanding a separation referendum, after a lower court ruled the petition unlawful.
Court of Appeal Justice Alice Woolley ruled June 29 that Alberta’s chief electoral officer, Gordon McClure, may begin verifying the petition’s signatures and report the results, but cannot take any further steps to advance the petition pending the appeal.
Woolley wrote that the remainder of the earlier decision quashing the separatist petition “remains in effect” until the appeal is heard.
The ruling marks a partial victory for Alberta separatists. In May, Court of King’s Bench Justice Shaina Leonard ruled against Elections Alberta’s processing of their separation petition, saying it should not have been authorized because the province failed to fulfil its duty to consult First Nations on the potential effects of Alberta’s independence….