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Petition to push Edmonton airport referendum denied
September 15, 2010 By The Canadian Press
Sept. 15, 2010, Edmonton - A petition organized by citizens who want to keep Edmonton's municipal airport open has been deemed invalid.
City clerk Alayne Sinclair says about 20,000 signatures from people wanting a referendum on the airport's fate were ineligible.
That means not enough people signed to force a vote that would have been held along with this fall's municipal election.
She also says the petition was too late and should have been presented to city council within 60 days of its decision to close the downtown runways.
The question of whether the city can support both a municipal and international airport has been a divisive one for years.
A plebiscite in 1995 favoured keeping the municipal airport open, but a city councillor has pointed out that vote was binding for only 10 years under provincial rules.
