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With Alberta inching closer to a fall referendum, Premier Danielle Smith is wondering out loud about how third-party advertising spending is being reported and tracked.
“Forever Canadian is the one I see the most signs up and for some reason, the elections officials have said that they don’t have to disclose where they’re getting their money from,” Smith said in an interview with Global News on Thursday, as the premier was meeting with her provincial counterparts in P.E.I.
“That’s a bit surprising to me and surprise to others. I suppose we’ll see what kind of contributions there are, also spending limits as well.”
Her comments aren’t sitting well with Thomas Lukaszuk who represents the Forever Canadian movement pushing for Alberta to affirm it will remain in Confederation.
“I find those comments despicable, there’s no other way to say it,” Lukaszuk said on Friday.
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“She wants to fan that flame for her own political gain.”
According to the Elections Finances and Contributions Disclosure Act, the Forever Canadian campaign isn’t doing anything wrong. The group is following the guidelines that were actually amended recently by the provincial government.
“We are simply using her rules to the benefit of unity — Canadian unity — and if she doesn’t like it, well then that’s just too bad,” Lukaszuk said.
The Elections Finances and Contributions Disclosure Act states, “advertising must relate to a specific referendum question, must be advertising … and must attempt to persuade an elector to vote in a particular way with respect to that referendum question.”
Third-party contributors to referendum campaigns can easily be found on the Elections Alberta website. A number of them appear to support an independent Alberta.
Lukaszuk, Alberta’s former deputy premier, is spending the summer travelling the province, encouraging Albertans to vote for staying in Canada in an October referendum.
His campaign includes door-knocking, handing out lawn signs stamped with the Canadian flag, and fact-checking information for Albertans on how important voter turnout is and how to sign up in the referendum.
He says if Elections Alberta needs to see their cash contributors, the regulatory body just has to ask.
“If Elections Alberta was to be of the opinion that we should be filing — we would gladly file. If they were to ask us to do so, obviously we would do it.
“But they’re not asking us to do it, so we don’t.”
Elections Alberta says it can only interpret and enforce the definitions and legislation as they is is written and if anyone has an issue with it, they should share their concerns with their MLA.
As for Smith on the issue, she said, “It shows there’s a robust discussion on both sides, there’s lots of organization on both sides of the discussion.”
The referendum will be held on Oct. 19.
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
