Elections Alberta announced on March 26, 2026, that a recall petition against Grande Prairie-Wapiti MLA Ron Wiebe has failed to reach the required number of signatures. The petition only gathered 279 signatures, which is well below the 11,921 names needed to trigger a new election in the Grande Prairie, Alberta, region.
Local teacher Deborah Harris started the petition to hold Wiebe accountable for his support of the Back to School Act. This provincial law used the notwithstanding clause to end a strike by 51,000 teachers in October 2025 and forced them back to work with a contract they had previously turned down.
According to Elections Alberta, the group had exactly three months to collect signatures from 60 per cent of eligible voters in the riding. The canvassing period ran from December 24, 2025, to March 23, 2026, but the effort struggled to find enough support despite setting up a signing station at a local former Canadian Tire.
Ron Wiebe responded to the results by stating that the recall process is intended to address serious misconduct or a failure to represent the community. He said the process should not be used to overturn democratic elections simply because people disagree with a specific government policy.
This local effort was part of a larger movement across the province, where 24 different recall petitions against government members have all been unsuccessful. While this petition is over, the Government of Alberta continues to face a legal challenge from the provincial teachers’ union regarding the legislation used to end the strike.
