Almost one-quarter of all Alberta MLAs facing citizen-led recall petition drives

EDMONTON – Almost one-quarter of all politicians in the Alberta legislature now face citizen-led petition drives to remove them from office.

Alberta’s chief electoral officer told a legislature committee Friday he needs almost $7 million to process what he listed as 21 petition campaigns in the 87-seat legislature.

“This level of activity is unprecedented,” Gordon McClure told the committee.

His comments came as his office formally announced four more recall petitions, bringing the official list to 18.

All but one are members of Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative caucus, with the other being the first opposition member to face recall – NDP education critic Amanda Chapman.

The remaining three under recall have not been officially named, but a petitioner in Brooks-Medicine Hat says Elections Alberta has sent her a letter saying they have approved her recall campaign against the premier.

The petition against Chapman from a constituent in her riding of Calgary-Beddington officially makes the recall issue a bipartisan affair.

Laurie McCormack, in her application published online by Elections Alberta, said that Chapman needs to go because she is putting criticism above “common sense representation.”

“Amanda Chapman chooses harsh partisan attacks likening Alberta’s elected government to extremists and backs public-sector unions over Calgary-Beddington families’ real priorities: education access and affordability,” McCormack wrote.

“Her divisive rhetoric distracts from solutions.”

McCormack didn’t immediately respond to an interview request Friday.

Chapman and the NDP have harshly criticized Smith’s United Conservative government for recently legislating striking teachers back to work and mandating a contract that educators had previously rejected for not adequately addressing key issues like classroom complexity. The UCP also used the Charter’s notwithstanding clause to override teacher rights and shield the bill from legal challenge.

Chapman, in her response statement to the petition, wrote that nearly every message she received from constituents during the strike implored her to step up and support teachers.

In an email, Chapman said Friday that if her following through on what constituents asked of her leads to a recall campaign: “so be it.”

“That’s the job,” she said. “I will always stand with teachers, oppose the use of the notwithstanding clause against workers, and advocate for better funding for public education.”

Elections Alberta also approved recall petitions against three more members of Smith’s United Conservative caucus on Friday, bringing that total to 17 — equal to more than a third of its 47 legislature members.

The new petitions are against cabinet ministers Adriana LaGrange and Tanya Fir, and backbencher Peter Singh.

Fir’s and Singh’s petitioners, like many of the others targeting UCP members, say they want to see their representative removed because they don’t engage or communicate appropriately with constituents and because they voted in favour of using the Charter’s notwithstanding clause in the teachers strike.

LaGrange’s petitioner, Danny Carlisle, meanwhile, says he launched the petition over her alleged involvement in a high-profile health contracts scandal that’s shaken up Alberta politics since the beginning of the year. LaGrange has denied any wrongdoing.

Smith and her caucus have repeatedly argued in recent weeks that the recall process is being weaponized by those upset with government policy and that the process was meant for acts of serious misconduct. 

NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi has criticized the government’s response, saying they were lashing out at their own constituents rather than accepting some Albertans might not be happy with the direction the government is taking.

Smith had publicly mused about making changes to the provincial Recall Act to address her concerns, which also include fundraising rules. But this week her justice minister confirmed that no changes were going to be made during the current legislative session, which is expected to wrap up next week.

Under the recall process, petitioners have three months to collect signatures equal to 60 per cent of the total number of votes cast in the constituency in the 2023 election.

If successful, a vote is held on whether the representative keeps their seat. If the member loses, a byelection is held.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 5, 2025.