EDMONTON — Organizers fighting to hold a referendum on Alberta quitting Confederation have won a partial victory in court.

An Appeal Court judge has ruled the signatures on a separatist referendum petition can be counted and verified.

The petition was effectively thrown out by a lower court judge last month, days after the separatist group handed in their sheets to Elections Alberta.

Justice Alice Woolley has now ruled that not verifying the signatures will create more problems should the group or the provincial government successfully appeal the May decision.

The separatists, led by activist Mitch Sylvestre, didn’t get everything they wanted.

Woolley’s decision maintains that their preferred binding referendum question can’t be added to the Oct. 19 referendum until the appeal process plays out.

The lower court judge ruled the petition process was offside, because the province failed to fulfil its constitutional duty to consult First Nations.

Sylvestre’s group said it had gathered at least 300,000 signatures, more than enough to allow the province to kick-start a binding referendum on leaving Canada.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 29, 2026.

Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press