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Eye-rolling news out of today's special committee on the Forever Canadian petition: after hearing Lukaszuk argue for the whole meeting that he doesn't actually want a referendum, the UCP majority of the committee has decided that his petition will be the reason we have a referendum. Oct 19.

This outcome may not have been so likely if the Forever Canadian petition campaign had not advertised itself as a campaign for a referendum, but it very plainly did, for reasons that are still unclear. Did Lukaszuk just tick the box with the lower vote threshold?

The courts have already decided that the opposite referendum, asking if Albertans want to separate, cannot proceed without consulting the First Nations. The government appears to believe that asking the question in reverse gets around this, even though the referendum will provide the same data.

To the hundreds of Albertans who spent all summer volunteering for Lukaszuk in a campaign against a separation referendum, only to end up as the justification for a separation referendum themselves, we can only offer our condolences.

After recess, the committee held a vote to decide whether to refer this up to the Legislature to a vote. (NDP and Lukaszuk really want this, UCP absolutely does not.) But the vote was 3-2 defeated by the UCP majority.