The Alberta government has introduced sweeping legislative changes that would reduce timelines for citizen-initiated petitions and place restrictions on political party names.
Bill 14, the Justice Statutes Amendment Act, 2025, was tabled in the legislature on Dec. 4 by Justice Minister Mickey Amery. It contains a range of proposed amendments to current legislation that Amery says will facilitate direct democracy, reduce voter confusion, and restore public confidence in the electoral processes.
One proposed change would remove the province’s chief electoral officer’s ability to refer citizen-initiated questions to the courts, transferring that authority to the justice minister. Another would halt any active court cases brought by the chief electoral officer in relation to citizens’ initiatives. This comes as the provincial chief electoral officer has referred a proposed petition question on Alberta’s separation to the court….