Envision Edmonton Chairman Charles Allard speaks to reporters at the Edmonton Law Courts Monday. Envision Edmonton is going to court to force the city of Edmonton to accept its petition over the future of City Centre Airport and set a date for the public to vote on the issue.

The pro-airport group, which was behind last summer's unsuccessful petition campaign, filed a notice of motion Monday asking for a judicial review in Edmonton's Court of Queen's Bench.

"Democracy's a very fragile institution," said Envision Edmonton chariman Charles Allard. "It's often not appreciated by those that have it. It's often neglected. It's often abused and it's often denied, which is this case here."

The group also wants the court to force the city to hand over all documents relating to the signature-validation process.

The application for the judicial review is to be made at 10 a.m. on Oct. 18th — the same day as Edmonton's municipal election.

The group wants the court to quash a decision made by the city on Sept. 15 to declare the petition invalid, after a review determined not enough of its 92,000 signatures required to force a plebiscite were valid.

The city also found the petition to be invalid because it was filed too late. Under the Municipal Government Act, a petition on a city resolution has to be filed within 60 days of the vote. The city last voted on the airport over a year ago, in July 2009.

Envision Edmonton also wants the court to force city council to create a bylaw on the airport question within four weeks, and then put it to a public vote four weeks after the bylaw receives first reading.

The court will also be asked to force the city to hand over all documents relating to the signature-validation process.