Hatters show up to sign the Forever Canadian petition outside city hall in this News file photo from August.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
asmith@medicinehatnews.com
Local canvassers are ecstatic with the news of the Forever Canadian petition finishing with a total of 456,365 signatures.
Canvasser Shelley Ewing told the News they had last heard signature estimates when petition organizer Thomas Lukaszuk visited Medicine Hat earlier this month. Those who volunteered within the city were surprised but thrilled to see the numbers that came out yTuesday.
“We feel like Alberta has spoken, and we feel that there is a clear indication that most Albertans care about their country and are patriotic to Canada, as well as Alberta,” said Ewing. “It’s not to say that people don’t have issues with the way things are going, but we want a better future for the next generations coming up behind us.”
With more than 150,000 additional signatures than required, this makes the petition one of the largest in Canadian history, said Ewing.
A particular point of pride was to hear that according to the number of signatures collected based on population, those in Medicine Hat “punched above their weight,” said Ewing. She says this is especially gratifying considering a delay in starting to collect and needing to send in their papers several days early to ensure they would arrive in Edmonton for Oct. 28.
While the petition period has concluded, Ewing says she feels the work is just beginning.
“I feel like there is a movement in Alberta that’s changing to a different direction that realizes maybe we can’t be complacent anymore,” said Ewing. “This petition has laid down a path and showed us that we can change if we stand up and let our voices be heard and fight back.”
While they are not currently aware of how many signatures were collected within Medicine Hat specifically, they will be available in days to come.
In the meantime, Ewing expressed gratitude to everyone who sacrificed their time and funds to get the petition to as many people within the city as possible, as making it available to residents, for many, was a full-time job.
Moving forward, Ewing suspects Medicine Hat will be seeing more action to reaffirm the province’s commitment to a brighter future within Canada.
