A citizen initiative petition to make it official policy for Alberta to stay in Canada has been verified as successful by Elections Alberta.

The Alberta Forever Canada petition, also known as the "Forever Canadian" petition, needed 293,976 signatures to be successful. Elections Alberta said the petition had 438,568 valid signatures counted and 404,293 verified signatures after a random statistical sampling method was applied with a 95 per cent confidence level.

The Forever Canadian petition was launched to counter Alberta separatists who want a referendum on the province's independence.

The petition, launched by former deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk asks: "Do you agree that Alberta should remain within Canada?"

Elections Alberta said it's estimated about 13.6 per cent of electors in

See Full Page