Elections Alberta calls for more civility from all regarding ongoing petitions

By medicinehatnews on March 12, 2026.

Elections Alberta released a statement addressing observed misinformation on the recall and citizen initiative petition processes.

It says significant misinformation has been observed in the period since the first citizen initiative petition was approved on June 30, 2025.

“Over the same period, Elections Alberta has received canvasser harassment reports from nearly every recall and citizen initiative petition campaign,” said Elections Alberta. “While these concerns have been present over the last eight months and addressed on our social media channels and website, the marked increase in recent weeks, along with increasingly inflammatory actions and online commentary, compels our office to address the following topics again.”

Elections Alberta encourages any canvassers who feel they have experienced harassment to contact local law enforcement, as it cannot assist in these matters. As canvassers represent only the applicant they are canvassing for, not Elections Alberta, and petition campaigns are not elections, votes, or referendums, the matter is not under its jurisdiction.

“To be very clear, Elections Alberta does not condone these behaviours in any way, nor is this behaviour unique to any one group or political position,” said Elections Alberta. “We urge all Albertans to conduct themselves in a civil and respectful manner when engaging with their fellow Albertans in person or online, particularly as it relates to electoral processes and events.”

Likewise, Elections Alberta says it does its best to make applicants aware of reported behaviour that does not align with the canvasser code of conduct so appropriate correction can be made. It says there is no legislation requiring landlords, businesses or organizations to provide access to public or private facilities.

Elections Alberta also says there has been no fraud reported or detected during any petition verification process, that all petitions have been conducted according to the relevant legislation in force at the time and it does not attend the events of, oppose, endorse any particular campaign or its actions.

“The petition validation, count and verification processes are consistently applied by Elections Alberta and reflect the requirements of the relevant legislation. This includes reviewing every signature on every sheet and contacting a statistically valid random sampling of electors who signed petition sheets to verify their information,” said Elections Alberta.

It continues to say proponents and applicants are responsible for sending canvasser applications to Elections Alberta, which sends out approved canvasser IDs within three business days of receipt. Those who have not received ID in a timely manner should contact the applicant. These people solely are also responsible for answering public questions about their campaign.

“Elections Alberta actively monitors media and debunks misinformation on our social media channels regularly. Albertans are encouraged to visit our social media channels and website for accurate, non-AI-generated information related to electoral processes and events in Alberta,” said Elections Alberta.

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