Alberta’s chief electoral officer has approved a petition application to recall Demetrios Nicolaides, MLA for Calgary-Bow, who is also the Minister of Education and Childcare.
First petition application approved under the province’s Recall Act
Rukhsar Ali · CBC News
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Alberta’s chief electoral officer has approved a petition application to recall Demetrios Nicolaides, MLA for Calgary-Bow, who is also the Minister of Education and Childcare.
The application, filed by Calgarian Jennifer Yeremiy, was given a written notice of approval last week and the petition was issued Oct. 23. Under the province’s legislation, Yeremiy will have 90 days to collect 16,006 signatures within the electoral division to make the petition successful.
This is the first recall petition application approved under the Recall Act, which the United Conservative Party government passed in 2021 and amended this July to lower the threshold for recalls.
Yeremiy's application says she is requesting Nicolaides’ recall because his “record demonstrates a clear failure to support public education."
“Alberta charter-private schools investment is unmatched across Canada. Meanwhile, public education faces: overcrowded classrooms, inappropriate curricula, inadequate resources, and insufficient funding and staff.”
About 51,000 public, separate and francophone school teachers across the province have been on strike since Oct. 6. On Thursday, Premier Danielle Smith announced the government will table back-to-work legislation next week.
An emailed statement from Nicolaides' office said the recall targets the UCP government, not his individual role as MLA.
“A recall of an MLA should not proceed when the stated reason is dissatisfaction with legitimate government policy rather than a failure in the member's core duties,” the statement says.
The statement adds that using the recall process to overturn a democratic election based on policy disagreements “undermines stable governance and the electoral process.”
“Recalls should be reserved for breaches of public trust, ethical violations, or sustained dereliction of local duty, not as a shortcut to trigger a new election over political differences."
Group looking to put forward more recalls
Yeremiy, who previously ran as a candidate in Calgary-North West with the Alberta Party, launched the petition as part of a group called AB Resistance.
She told CBC News, “the goal all along in joining this group is to put forward enough recalls to trigger an early election, believing that we can't let this government continue under the mandate that they have dictated — not us — for any longer than we can.”
Nicolaides was re-elected as MLA for Calgary-Bow in 2023, in a close race with NDP candidate Druh Farrell. He secured his seat with 49.3 per cent of the vote, 385 votes ahead of Farrell.
Marc Froese, a professor of political science at Burman University in Lacombe, Alta., said he believes "on one level, [the petition] might end up being a bit of a nothingburger, especially if the teachers are ordered back to work, they go to binding arbitration and something comes out of that that is somewhat acceptable to the [Alberta Teachers' Association].
"But of course, if ... we start to see ... a larger process of popular dissatisfaction with the UCP, especially in the major cities, then this could end up being some kind of a rallying cry" he said.
At a press conference on Thursday, opposition leader Naheed Nenshi was asked about the petition, to which he responded with the phrase: “Hoisted on your own petard.”
“This government wrote this legislation. Now they’re in the find-out stage,” he said, adding that Nicolaides’ handling of public education and the current teachers’ strike has not instilled confidence in the public.
How does the recall process work?
To recall Nicolaides, Yeremiy’s petition will require the support of 60 per cent of voters in the electoral district of Calgary-Bow who participated in the last general election. Before legislation was amended, a recall required 40 per cent of eligible voters.
That means Yeremiy will need to collect 16,006 signatures by Jan. 21, 2026. The window to obtain signatures was previously 60 days. That has been extended to 90 with the amendment.
A successful petition will result in a referendum within Calgary-Bow on whether to recall Nicolaides and hold a byelection.
As part of the new legislation, Nicolaides was required to provide Alberta’s chief electoral officer with a responding statement. His office’s statement provided to CBC News was the same as the statement submitted.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rukhsar Ali is a multiplatform reporter with CBC Calgary. She has previously reported for The Globe and Mail, CTV News and Global News, as well as produced on CBC Radio's Cross Country Checkup and Just Asking. Rukhsar was a 2023 recipient of the CBC Joan Donaldson Scholarship and holds a Master of Journalism from Carleton University. Want to share a story tip? You can reach her at rukhsar.ali@cbc.ca.
With files from Julian Brown, Brendan Coulter and Janet French
