EDMONTON, ALBERTA, CANADA — Alberta’s journey toward holding a fall referendum vote on separation took a bizarre turn Wednesday straight into a roadblock.

It occurred when the governing United Conservative members of a bipartisan legislature committee introduced a motion to formally ask Premier Danielle Smith and her cabinet to initiate an Oct. 19 provincewide referendum on Alberta’s status in Confederation.

The motion was expected to pass, given the UCP members on the committee outnumber the Opposition NDP members, but while it was still being debated the UCP caucus published a news release announcing the vote had taken place and that the motion had passed.

The news release, which even had laudatory quotes from committee chair Brandon Lunty, who is a UCP backbencher, was pulled back by the caucus about 20 minutes later.

The NDP members on the committee said the premature release called into question the process and Lunty’s impartiality and called for it to be raised to the legislature Speaker’s attention.

The United Conservatives voted against escalating the issue but time on the meeting ran out before the vote on the Oct. 19 referendum could occur.

More coming.

Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press