RMWB School Zone, supplied image
EDMONTON — A citizen initiative petition calling for an end to public funding for accredited independent schools has failed to gather enough signatures to proceed.
Alberta’s chief electoral officer, Gordon McClure, received the “Alberta Funds Public Schools” petition after the signature collection period ended. Following a preliminary count, Elections Alberta determined the petition did not meet the required threshold and halted further verification.
A total of 177,732 signatures were required for the initiative to succeed, representing 10 per cent of the votes cast in the 2023 provincial general election. Elections Alberta reported 124,937 preliminary signatures were counted, falling short of the requirement. As a result, no further validation or statistical sampling was conducted.
The province had an estimated 2,966,192 registered electors as of May 2025.
The proposed question asked whether the Government of Alberta should end its current practice of allocating public funds to accredited independent schools.
The initiative application, submitted by proponent Alicia Taylor, was approved on Oct. 7, 2025, and the petition was formally issued on Oct. 14, 2025.
Under the Citizen Initiative Act, the proponent must, within two days of publication of the results, return all petition materials and canvasser identification documents to Elections Alberta, destroy any additional copies of signature sheets and submit a signed affidavit confirming compliance. An expense limit report must also be filed within 30 days of petition submission.
Elections Alberta, an independent, non-partisan office of the Legislative Assembly, administers provincial elections, byelections and referenda.
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