Alberta’s sport minister says he hasn’t signed petition for separation vote

EDMONTON – Alberta’s sport minister says he hasn’t signed his name to a petition that seeks to force a referendum on the province quitting Canada.

Andrew Boitchenko, whose portfolio also covers tourism, says he and Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party government are focused on strengthening Alberta’s position within Canada.

“We want to make sure that Ottawa pays attention to Alberta, that Ottawa hears Albertans, but we are supporting a united Alberta within (a) united Canada,” Boitchenko said at an unrelated news conference on Monday.

“No, I haven’t signed the petition on that.”

Boitchenko is the second member of Smith’s cabinet to publicly declare they haven’t signed the separatist petition, after Assisted Living Minister Jason Nixon told a local newspaper in his rural Alberta riding earlier this month that he also hadn’t signed.

A leader for the group behind it has claimed that some unnamed members of Smith’s caucus have added their names to the list.

Smith has said she isn’t aware of any of her caucus members signing. She told CTV earlier this month that she wouldn’t “police” it, and that her caucus was free to sign any petitions they want.

Emails sent to more than 20 UCP backbenchers last week asking if they had signed went unanswered. A statement attributed to the caucus said in response that it also wasn’t aware of any legislature members adding their names to the petition. 

“MLAs are free to express their personal views on any matter they choose. However, we are not aware of any MLAs signing this petition,” the statement read.

Boitchenko said Monday he hadn’t signed because he believed in a “strong Alberta within a united Canada.”

“Actually, I was expecting more questions on soccer today,” he added, referring to his announcement that the province was providing an Edmonton soccer club $1.5 million to help build a new facility.

“If we have more questions to celebrate that, that’ll be probably in benefit for all Edmontonians and Albertans.”

The push for a vote on Alberta becoming its own country is now in its second month of collecting signatures. 

Signing events across the province have drawn large crowds and long lines. The group behind it, Stay Free Alberta, has until May to get nearly 178,000 signatures.

Smith and her government has faced, and rebuffed, a series of calls in recent weeks to denounce the movement. Other premiers, the Opposition NDP and former federal Liberal leader and cabinet minister Stéphane Dion — who helped write the rules on separation votes in Canada — have all called on Smith to take a clearer stand on the matter.

The premier has said she won’t demonize those who have lost hope with Canadian federalism and that it’s her responsibility, along with Ottawa’s, to prove Canada can still work in the province’s favour.

Members of the Opposition NDP say they have signed pledges denouncing separatism and have urged their UCP counterparts to do the same. The UCP has called the pledge a distracting stunt.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 9, 2026.