Alberta Separatists Claim Enough Signatures for Referendum

Attendees during the Alberta Independence Town Hall event in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in January.

Photographer: Leah Hennel/Bloomberg

Activists in Canada’s oil-rich province of Alberta say they’ve gathered enough signatures to trigger a referendum question this October on separating from Canada.

Ahead of a May 2 deadline, canvassers passed the threshold of 177,732 signatures needed to add the secession question to a referendum including other matters already scheduled for Oct. 19, an account for the main organizing group known as Stay Free Alberta said on social media late Monday.