By Lethbridge Herald on October 18, 2025.
Joe Manio
Lethbridge Herald
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The Forever Canadian (FC) Unity Bus will be in Lethbridge today, leading into the final week of the Forever Canadian petition signature drive. Former deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk, who started the non-partisan petition to encourage Albertans to take a stand for the province’s place as a part of Canada, has been traveling with it..
With the Oct. 28 deadline approaching for collecting signatures on its petition opposing Alberta separating from the rest of Canada, thousands of canvassers in Lethbridge and across Alberta have been ratcheting up their efforts.
As of this week, the movement has gathered more than 250,000 of the 300,000 signatures required by Elections Canada for a referendum to proceed. The petition asks: “Do you agree that Alberta should remain in Canada?”
Before hitting the road in the red and white schemed recreational vehicle, many told Lukaszuk that he would have a difficult time getting support in rural areas, to which he said everyone deserves a chance to participate in the petition.
“Some were telling me at the very beginning that we were not going to get any signatures in rural Alberta. Were they ever wrong. Our farmers and Albertans that live in rural Alberta are proud Canadians, and they’re showing it in numbers,” wrote Lukaszuk in a recent FC Facebook page update.
The petition is a response to the Alberta Prosperity Project (APP), which earlier this year applied to hold a referendum on whether the province should leave Canada. That application is currently before the courts to determine whether it goes against the Constitution.
The Unity Bus will be at the Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden Bunka Centre parking lot (off Mayor Magrath Drive) from 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
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Awesome. Wife & I signed up a while ago but will drop by to thank Thomas for all his work running this petition. Hopefully we get a lot more signatures.