Alberta Legislature building (Lethbridge News Now)

By Justin Goulet/LethbridgeNewsNOW

Proposed ‘Citizen Initiative Act’ would get more residents involved in the legislative process

Mar 16, 2021 | 3:50 PM

EDMONTON, AB – The province wants more Albertans to be involved in the legislative process.

The proposed Bill 51, the Citizen Initiative Act, would allow any resident in the province to bring forward a matter important to them to the Legislature for consideration.

If enough support is received through a public petition, Albertans would be able to:

• Submit proposed legislative and policy changes to the legislative assembly for consideration;
• Submit proposed constitutional referendum questions to the provincial government.

The first step for a citizen would be to apply to the Chief Electoral Officer to start their petition.

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The application for a petition will have to include:

• The name and contact information of the applicant;
• A statement of the idea for the initiative or proposed legislation or for a proposed constitutional referendum, a proposed question;
• The application fee.

If the application is approved by the Chief Electoral Officer, the petitioner, at their own cost, would have to gather signatures of eligible voters in the province. They would need:

• 10 per cent of voters province-wide for legislative and policy initiatives;
• For constitutional initiatives, petitioners would need the signatures of 20 per cent of voters province-wide, and would need that level of support in two-thirds of Alberta’s constituents.

The Chief Electoral Officer will issue the petition, including the signing sheets to be used to collect signatures.

The petitioner would be responsible for all costs associated with gathering the number of signatures needed.

However, they can accept any contributions toward their initiative, subject to financing rules that will be set out in the regulation. The Chief Electoral Officer would then review the signatures acquired and determine if the petition has been successful.

Successful legislative and policy initiatives would then be referred to a committee of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for consideration. If the committee does not support the initiative, a public vote would then be held.

Successful constitutional initiatives will moe through the process established in the Referendum Act.

If the Citizen Initiative Act is passed, it will come into force upon proclamation.