EDMONTON — The former Alberta politician trying to keep the province from splitting up with Canada says his campaign is zeroing in on its goal, but he's not slowing down.

Thomas Lukaszuk's Forever Canadian petition aims to make it official policy for Alberta to stay in the country.

Lukaszuk says his group, now with some 5,000 canvassers collecting names, has gathered 230,000 signatures.

That's some 64,000 shy of the roughly 294,000 needed before the end of October to trigger a referendum.

The campaign is pushback against the separatist sentiment in Alberta that once again bubbled to the surface after the federal Liberals' election win in late April.

Premier Danielle Smith's United Conservative government later lowered the threshold for citizens to initiate a referendum, including on s

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