Alberta’s chief electoral officer has given the green light to a petition seeking the recall of Demetrios Nicolaides, who serves as the MLA for Calgary-Bow and holds the position of Minister of Education and Childcare. The petition, submitted by Jennifer Yeremiy from Calgary, was officially approved last week, and the petition itself was issued on October 23. According to provincial laws, Yeremiy now has a 90-day window to collect 16,006 signatures within the electoral division to validate the petition.
This marks the first approval of a recall petition application under the Recall Act, which was introduced by the United Conservative Party government in 2021 and subsequently revised in July to lower the threshold for recall processes. Yeremiy’s petition outlines her reasons for seeking Nicolaides’ recall, citing his alleged lack of support for public education and contrasting it with significant investments in charter-private schools in Alberta.
A significant number of public, separate, and francophone school teachers, approximately 51,000 in total, have been on strike since October 6. Premier Danielle Smith recently announced plans to introduce back-to-work legislation in response to the ongoing strike. In a statement from Nicolaides’ office, it was emphasized that the recall effort is directed at the UCP government as a whole, rather than solely targeting his role as an MLA.
Yeremiy, who is associated with a group called AB Resistance and previously ran as a candidate with the Alberta Party, expressed intentions to initiate multiple recall efforts to potentially trigger an early election. Nicolaides narrowly secured his position as MLA for Calgary-Bow in the 2023 election, winning against NDP candidate Druh Farrell by a slim margin.
Political analyst Marc Froese suggested that the outcome of the petition could be inconsequential if the teachers return to work through arbitration, but it could also potentially fuel broader dissatisfaction with the UCP government, particularly in urban areas. The recall process itself requires the support of 60% of voters in the Calgary-Bow district who participated in the last general election, necessitating Yeremiy to gather the required signatures by January 21, 2026.
Should the petition gather the necessary support, a referendum will be held within Calgary-Bow to decide on Nicolaides’ recall and the subsequent need for a by-election. As part of the revised legislation, Nicolaides was obliged to provide a statement in response to the petition, reiterating the stance outlined in the official statement submitted by his office.