Separatists in Alberta say they have collected enough signatures to hold a referendum on whether the province should secede from Canada.
The petition, organized by the group Stay Free Alberta, was formally filed in Edmonton on Monday.
Organizers claim they collected over 300,000 signatures, far more than the 178,000 needed to move the referendum campaign forward.
“This day is historic in the history of Alberta,” Stay Free Alberta leader Mitch Silvestre said outside the elections office, according to the BBC.
“This is the first step to the next step – we made it to Round 3 and now we’re in the Stanley Cup Finals.”
The proposed referendum question asks voters whether Alberta should “cease to be part of Canada to become an independent state”.
However, this process is now facing legal challenges from indigenous First Nations groups, who argue that separation would be a violation of treaty rights protected under the Canadian Constitution.
Kevin Hille, a lawyer representing the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, said: “The international border will impact their treaty rights and way of life.”
An Alberta court has temporarily halted signature verification while it reviews the case.
Support for independence has grown in parts of Alberta amid frustration over federal energy and climate policies. However, recent polling shows that a majority of Albertans still oppose separation from Canada.
