Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has said the RCMP and CSIS had not been 'forthcoming' with her government about security issues surrounding Alberta’s possible vote on secession.Todd Korol/The Canadian Press
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she’s seeking national-security clearance from Canada’s spy service so she can receive briefings on foreign-interference threats facing her province.
Ms. Smith, who made her comments during Question Period in the provincial legislature on Wednesday, was responding to concerns about potential meddling by foreign actors if the province’s fall referendum includes a question about Alberta independence.
She said she was pursuing security clearance from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service but did not indicate when she started the process.
“I am going through the process to be able to get a higher clearance so that I can get CSIS briefings because I would like to know if there is any foreign interference happening in our province,” Ms. Smith said.
Gary Mason: Talk of separation is hurting Alberta. Why won’t Danielle Smith denounce it?
The previous day, at a provincial committee meeting, Ms. Smith said the RCMP and CSIS had not been “forthcoming” with her government about security issues surrounding Alberta’s possible vote on secession.
“I wish we could rely on the RCMP, but they have not been forthcoming on giving us this information,” she said when asked by Opposition NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi about the meddling of foreign actors in a potential independence referendum.
“I wish we could rely on CSIS, but they have not been forthcoming at giving us this information because you have to get certain security clearances.”
National-security and election experts have expressed concern about the threat of foreign meddling should Alberta hold an independence referendum this fall – specifically provincial agencies’ capacity to address those threats.
To date, concern has focused on potential interference from the United States.
Ms. Smith has scheduled a vote on immigration and constitutional issues for Oct. 19, and separatists are trying to collect the nearly 178,000 signatures needed to put their secession question on the ballot.
Opinion: Alberta cannot just up and leave Canada
The petition effort is taking place after U.S. President Donald Trump stated a desire to amplify his country’s influence in the Western Hemisphere and has repeatedly referred to Canada as the 51st state.
Over the past year, there have been at least three meetings between a group of Alberta separatists and the U.S. State Department, and a handful of Trump-aligned officials have approvingly pointed to the potential referendum.
In January, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent directly referenced Alberta’s independence movement, saying, “I think we should let them come down into the U.S., and Alberta is a natural partner for the U.S.”
Separatists celebrated Mr. Bessent’s comments, interpreting them as a willingness to increase Alberta’s oil exports south of the border.
In a statement to The Globe and Mail, CSIS spokesperson Lindsay Sloane said the agency has recently expanded its ability to share national-security threats with orders of government outside Ottawa. She wrote that CSIS is prevented from looking into advocacy or protests but would investigate foreign efforts to interfere with domestic politics.
“CSIS investigates threats to the security of Canada in accordance with our Act, which specifically excludes lawful protest and dissent, and which would include lawful political advocacy relating to the status of Alberta,” Ms. Sloane wrote.
“Any instance where a foreign state might seek to use covert or obfuscated means to divide Canadians, amplify narratives that don’t truly reflect the views of Canadians, or otherwise deceptively interfere in domestic political processes would be of concern and investigated by CSIS.”
She would not answer questions about Ms. Smith’s effort to get security clearance or whether it has briefed Alberta officials on issues of foreign interference.
Amid a wave of Canada-wide unity, Alberta separatists push back
Jody Thomas, who served as the national-security and intelligence adviser to then-prime-minister Justin Trudeau, said it’s not unreasonable for Ms. Smith to seek a security clearance.
Ms. Thomas noted that British Columbia Premier David Eby received a security clearance from CSIS after the killing of a Sikh activist in his province was linked to the Indian government.
Ms. Thomas said she can’t recall anything from her time as the NSIA that would have required an Alberta premier to receive a secret or top-secret clearance, but CSIS would have reached out if there was imminent danger or threat.
“I actually think that because of the provincial and municipal ties with election interference and the violence we saw in Surrey, B.C., it is a good idea for premiers to be read in,” Ms. Thomas said.
She noted that it takes time to get clearance and it wouldn’t happen overnight.
“I personally don’t think it is at all unreasonable, I think it is good governance,” Ms. Thomas said.
Artur Wilczynski, a former federal national-security official, said a “broad-based effort” between governments on national-security issues should be a priority ahead of a referendum.
“In order to … have the credibility necessary with various jurisdictions on issues, such as a potential referendum on Alberta sovereignty, I think [CSIS] really needs to work very closely with the Government of Alberta in order to mitigate those threats,” said Mr. Wilczynski, a senior fellow at the University of Ottawa’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs.
Ms. Smith on Tuesday also said her government is preparing to create an intelligence arm in the Alberta Sheriffs Police Service, which is replacing the Alberta Sheriffs Branch. She said the intelligence arm would gather information no different from that gathered by other police services.
Dale McPhee, executive council deputy minister and former Edmonton Police chief, will help build that arm of the service, she said.
The United Conservative Party government is currently working to transform its sheriffs branch, giving sheriffs a pathway to train for full police officer roles. The new agency could replace the RCMP in 2032 when Alberta’s contract with the Mounties expires.
With a report from Stephanie Levitz