Two more Alberta petitions get green light to collect signatures to oust politicians

EDMONTON – Recall petitions aiming to oust two opposition members of Alberta’s legislature have been approved by Elections Alberta.

One targets Pete Guthrie, a former United Conservative Party cabinet minister who stepped down over the government’s handling of a government contracts scandal.

Guthrie, representing Airdrie-Cochrane, now sits in the legislature as the leader of the Progressive Tory Party.

The other petition is against Marie Renaud, the NDP member for St. Albert.

They bring the total to 28 recall petitions initiated since last fall.

Twenty of the 24 against members of Premier Danielle Smith’s UCP caucus, including Smith, have so far fallen short or been withdrawn.

Those petitioning Guthrie and Renaud have until June 10 to collect signatures equal to 60 per cent of votes cast in their ridings in the 2023 provincial election.

In Airdrie-Cochrane, that means just over 18,000 signatures are needed, and in St. Albert, 15,000.

Petitioner Lawrence Martini, in a statement published by Elections Alberta, cites legal proceedings that appear to date back to 2014. Martini says Guthrie refused to communicate with him and at an open house and called the police to have him removed.

“We did nothing wrong, punished, lost everything. This is a scam. Public Inquiry,” the statement says.

Guthrie, in a statement also posted on the Elections Alberta website, says he respects the process and wishes Martini well in exercising his rights under the law.

“As an MLA, there are limits to my role, particularly with respect to private legal matters and court proceedings. While we were unable to resolve this individual’s concerns, we approached the situation in good faith and remain focused on serving the people of Airdrie-Cochrane,” he writes.

Lilo Forsyth, who is seeking to unseat Renaud, says the politician “represents an ideology — not St. Albert,” and accuses Renaud of “pushing gender ideology” into classrooms.

“She treats parents like the problem, deliberately shutting them out — along with anyone who disagrees with her,” Forsyth’s statement reads.

Renaud says in her statement to Elections Alberta that her constituents have said accessible public education is vitally important to them.

“I will endeavour to do all I can in my role as MLA for St. Albert to ensure every student has access to quality education regardless of their race, religion, ability or gender.”

Many who started the earlier petitions said they were motivated by the UCP government’s use of the Charter’s notwithstanding clause to force striking teachers back to work last fall. Others have said their representatives were hard to reach or dismissive of local concerns.

The results of two remaining petitions seeking to recall NDP members are not yet available.

If a petition is successful, a constituency-wide vote would be held on whether the politician keeps their seat. If the member loses, a byelection would be held.

The next provincial general election is scheduled for next October.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 12, 2026.