Ban The Ban Rally

October 26, 2025

(Disclaimer - I am both a member of ABR and Enough is Enough Edmonton and helped plan the rally)

At first we planned this for Saturday October 25, 2025 from 1-3. There was no one else booked and we continued planning. Two weeks before the event ads started appearing for the Independence Rally/Separatists same day from 4 - 6. In talking to our communities we decided to move it to the Sunday so that attendees would be safe. We posted to several websites, and had our posts denied or deleted by site administration, so our apologies to everyone who came out Saturday. Sunday was cold and damp so thank you to the brave souls who showed up to support us. It was incredible. We had amazing speakers who talked about some of the issues we are facing in Alberta today. Because of the weather as an organizer I gave up my time so people would be able to go home and warm up. This is why I am posting this here and on Facebook. Please share.

(Also if you are on Substack - check out Dasheibz’ post on the rally and the difference between the Independence and the Ban the Ban Rally.)

Hi everyone,

Welcome to the Ban The Ban Rally. My name is Tami Smith, and I am here representing ABR - or ABResistance, which is our full name. I joined ABR in July of 2024, right after I retired from teaching. I saw the direction our province was going in under this Alberta Government. We were following a playbook - The Free Alberta Strategy, authored by Rob Anderson and modeled on the Project 2025 handbook going on in the US. (Fun Fact: The Alberta Next Panel was based on this)

This government is counting on the majority of Albertans to either support their mandates (cue the separatist rally that happened here yesterday) or the 40% in the middle who are not sure what’s really happening and have gone along with the government, thinking they know what they are doing. These are the ones that the UCP/Separatists are targeting.

We know the government is not here for the people. They don’t care about the 30% who want good health care, good education, good supports for seniors and the disabled, good well-paying jobs for all Albertans, livable wages, and safety nets when things go wrong, because trust me - we are one job loss, one accident, one illness away from being someone who needs support. They aren’t listening and they don’t want to listen.

But we at ABR have found a way to make them listen. ABR has been working for the last 18 months to get recalls off the ground. The government passed legislation allowing recalls to happen - The Recall Act (Statutes of Alberta 2021, c. R-5.7), enacted through Bill 52, established the framework for recalls in Alberta. This last year the UCP introduced and passed Bill 54: Election Statutes Amendment Act, 2025, which amended the Recall Act to lower barriers for initiating recalls. It made the process easier by:

• Reducing the signature threshold for authorizing a recall vote from 40% of all eligible voters to 60% of voters who cast ballots in the district’s most recent election (typically a smaller, more achievable number).

• Extending the petition collection period from 60 to 90 days.

• Allowing petitions to begin earlier: 12 months after an MLA’s election (down from 18 months).

There are currently 2 recalls filed, Angela Pitt - Airdrie East, the application has been approved, and Demetrios Nicalaides - Calgary Bow. It has been approved.

So here we are. It is our democratic right to file recalls. If we file 5 successful recalls and elect other parties, the UCP will lose its majority and will have to dissolve the government.

In Alberta, join the “Resistance.” Go to abresistance.ca to find action steps you can take. Learn, Volunteer, or Donate as we educate Albertans about their democratic rights. Find us on Social Media, and repost information. We are on Substack and put out the Resistor newsletter of events on Friday, and a newsletter on Sunday mornings about what is happening in Alberta. If you have things to post, reach out to us. We are in this together. This is a historical time in North America, and we are in the middle of it figuratively and literally. We need to push back and make our voices heard.

• Research by Harvard political scientist Erica Chenoweth has shown that movements that actively engage just 3.5% of the population in peaceful protest rarely fail to bring about change. This finding comes from studying hundreds of campaigns across the last century.

thinkbynumbers.org/politics/it-takes-3-5-of-the-population-to-change-the-world/

It Takes 3.5% of the Population to Change the World

Will you join us?

We want to “Build A Better Alberta For Everyone.”