Alberta’s chief electoral officer has given the green light to a petition seeking the recall of Demetrios Nicolaides, the Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) representing Calgary-Bow and serving as the Minister of Education and Childcare. The petition, initiated by Jennifer Yeremiy from Calgary, was officially approved last week, with the petition being issued on October 23. Yeremiy now has a 90-day window to gather 16,006 signatures within the electoral division to advance the recall process successfully.
This marks the initial approval of a recall petition application under the Recall Act, a law introduced by the United Conservative Party government in 2021 and later amended in July to lower the thresholds for recall procedures. Yeremiy’s petition cites Nicolaides’ alleged failure to adequately support public education as the primary reason for the recall request. The application highlights concerns such as overcrowded classrooms, inappropriate curricula, inadequate resources, and insufficient funding and staffing in public education compared to investments in charter-private schools in Alberta.
Around 51,000 teachers from public, separate, and francophone schools across the province have been on strike since October 6. Premier Danielle Smith announced plans to introduce back-to-work legislation following the prolonged strike. In response to the recall petition, Nicolaides’ office stated that the recall effort targets the UCP government as a whole rather than Nicolaides in his individual capacity as an MLA. The statement emphasized that recalls should be reserved for instances of breaching public trust, ethical violations, or sustained neglect of local duties, rather than as a means to trigger new elections due to policy disagreements.
Yeremiy, a former Alberta Party candidate who contested in Calgary-North West, launched the petition as part of a collective named AB Resistance. The group’s objective is to initiate multiple recalls to potentially prompt an early election by challenging the current government’s mandate. Nicolaides narrowly secured reelection as Calgary-Bow’s MLA in 2023, defeating NDP candidate Druh Farrell by a slim margin.
Political science professor Marc Froese from Burman University in Lacombe, Alberta, commented on the petition, suggesting that its impact may vary depending on the resolution of ongoing labor disputes and public sentiment towards the UCP government. The recall process requires the support of 60% of voters in Calgary-Bow who participated in the last general election, with Yeremiy needing to gather the requisite signatures by January 21, 2026.
A successful petition would trigger a referendum within Calgary-Bow to decide on Nicolaides’ recall and the subsequent holding of a by-election. Nicolaides was obligated under the revised legislation to provide a response to the chief electoral officer, with the statement aligning with the one submitted to CBC News.