CALGARY — Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she has not signed a petition currently gathering signatures for a referendum to pull the province out of Confederation.

Smith says she hasn’t signed any petitions because the process is meant to be driven by citizens.

The push for a vote on Alberta becoming its own country is now in its second month of collecting signatures, and the group behind it, Stay Free Alberta, has until May to get nearly 178,000 signatures.

Smith has long said she supports a sovereign Alberta within a united Canada, but that she believes in direct democracy.

Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides says he too didn’t put his name to the effort, and Environment Minister Grant Hunter’s office confirmed the same.

It comes after two of Smith’s other ministers publicly confirmed they had not signed the petition, including Sport Minister Andrew Boitchenko this week, and Assisted Living Minister Jason Nixon earlier this month.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 12, 2026.

The Canadian Press