A petition seeking a referendum on Alberta independence has been approved to begin collecting signatures.

Elections Alberta announced Dec. 22 that Chief Electoral Officer Gordon McClure approved the citizen initiative application, which asks: “Do you agree that the Province of Alberta should cease to be a part of Canada to become an independent state?”

The proponent is Mitch Sylvestre.

The approval comes just weeks after Elections Alberta verified a competing petition — the Alberta Forever Canada initiative — which gathered more than 400,000 signatures asking whether Alberta should remain part of Canada.

Under the Citizen Initiative Act, Elections Alberta will now determine if requirements for appointing a chief financial officer have been met. Once complete, the office will issue official signature sheets and set the collection period.

Signatures collected on unofficial forms will not be accepted, and canvassing cannot begin until the petition is formally issued.

The number of signatures required and collection period dates will be published on Elections Alberta’s website.