Prime Minister Mark Carney, right, and premiers look on as Alberta's Danielle Smith, third left, addresses reporters on Thursday. Ms. Smith says she doesn't want to 'demonize' or 'marginalize' Albertans when they have legitimate grievances.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said Thursday that she won’t demonize the roughly one million Albertans who are open to separation, after B.C. Premier David Eby said a group of Alberta separatists who went to Washington in search of political support are engaging in treason.
Mr. Eby, who along with Ms. Smith and other provincial and territorial premiers was in Ottawa Thursday for a first ministers’ meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney, was referencing a report in the Financial Times, which said the Trump administration had held covert meetings with Alberta separatists. Mr. Eby said he would be raising the issue during Thursday’s meeting.
Later in the day, Mr. Carney said he expects the U.S. administration to respect Canadian sovereignty. Ms. Smith expressed a similar sentiment, adding that she would have her representative in Washington discuss the matter with U.S. officials. The Premier maintained that she and her party support a strong and sovereign Alberta within a united Canada
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National-unity concerns were top of mind ahead of the meeting on Parliament Hill.
A referendum on Alberta sovereignty could take place this fall, while the sovereigntist Parti Québécois is leading public-opinion polls ahead of a fall election and is promising a third Quebec sovereignty referendum if the party returns to power.
Mr. Carney has long urged premiers to present a united response to tariff and trade threats from the U.S. That push has gained urgency in recent weeks as a review of the North American free-trade pact draws nearer, and as Ottawa manages an apparent rift with U.S. President Donald Trump over the Prime Minister’s speech at the World Economic Forum, in which he criticized American trade policy.
B.C. Premier David Eby addresses reporters on Thursday ahead of the first ministers meeting. He says it's 'treasonous activity' to go to a foreign power to ask for help to break up Canada.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Mr. Eby and Ms. Smith have been at odds for months over Alberta’s November agreement with Ottawa to prioritize a new Alberta bitumen pipeline through British Columbia to the Pacific. The pipeline proposal has the potential of being referred to the federal government’s new Major Projects Office, which has the task of accelerating nation-building infrastructure.
The two premiers convened Wednesday with Mr. Carney for a meeting that Mr. Eby described as “borderline friendly.” But Mr. Eby raised a new point of concern with Alberta on his way into Thursday’s meetings.
“To go to a foreign country and to ask for assistance in breaking up Canada, there’s an old-fashioned word for that, and that word is ‘treason,’” he said.
The B.C. Premier repeated that view at a closing news conference alongside Mr. Carney, Ms. Smith and the other premiers.
“In my opinion, that is treasonous activity, and it needs to be called out, and it needs to be stopped,” he said.
When asked to respond, Ms. Smith said she would expect that the U.S. government would respect Canada’s sovereignty.
“But I think we also have to be realistic that [for] 10 years under Justin Trudeau’s government, our province was relentlessly attacked,” in reference to Mr. Carney’s predecessor. She said polls show that as many as 30 per cent of Albertans have “lost hope.”
“I’m not going to demonize or marginalize a million of my fellow citizens when they’ve got legitimate grievances,” she said. “What we need to do is we need to give Albertans hope.”
The Prime Minister and premiers wrapped up their meeting with pledges to work together on internal and international trade and to move ahead with major projects.
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They plan to meet monthly during the talks to renew the continental trade deal and said they would create a “Team Canada” trade and investment hub to support trade missions abroad.
Ms. Smith repeated her plan to release details on a new pipeline proposal by June. She said a port at Kitimat, B.C., is “not on the table,” as it was deemed to be too complex, but other options are being explored.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent weighed in on Alberta separatism last week, calling the Western province “a natural partner for the U.S.”
Mr. Carney was asked Thursday if the U.S. is engaging in foreign interference.
“I would expect the U.S. administration to respect Canadian sovereignty. I’m always clear in my conversations with President Trump to that effect and then move on to what we can do together,” he said.
A referendum on Alberta independence could happen later this year if a group of residents can collect the nearly 178,000 signatures required to force a vote on the issue. That group, Stay Free Alberta, has until early May to gather support.
Jeff Rath, the unofficial leader of Alberta’s independence movement, has been open about the fact that his group has made visits to Washington, which was confirmed by U.S. officials in the Financial Times report.
Jeff Rath, a Calgary-based constitutional lawyer and a prominent figure in the Alberta separatist movement, speaks during a gathering of supporters of Alberta separation at the Big Four Roadhouse in Calgary on Monday.Amir Salehi/The Globe and Mail
He told The Globe and Mail in an interview last week that he and his colleagues have twice met with U.S. State Department officials and that they’re planning a February meeting with the U.S. Treasury.
He has declined to say who specifically he has met, arguing that he’s not obligated to share those details as a private citizen.
“When I’m saying we’re meeting at the highest level of the U.S. government, we are meeting at the highest levels of the U.S. government,” Mr. Rath told The Globe last Friday.
Mr. Rath said in a Thursday interview that State Department officials in meetings have described U.S. statehood as an “impossibility” because the U.S. Senate would never vote in favour of it.
“It’s not going to happen. We had a conversation about that. It was very frank. There’s no agreement because we are private citizens. We do not have the authority to agree to anything,” Mr. Rath said.
Discussions about a US$500-billion line of credit have also been purely exploratory, he said, describing the broad discussions as part of a “feasibility study” that would be turned into a road map for an independent Alberta government. He added that he and his colleagues are not soliciting money from the U.S.
The U.S. State Department confirmed the meetings to The Globe and sent a statement, which was attributed to a senior official who was not named.
“The Department regularly meets with civil society types. As is typical in routine meetings such as these, no commitments were made,” they wrote.
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On the issue of Quebec sovereignty, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Wednesday that it would be a disaster for Canada if the Parti Québécois is elected this fall.
Quebec Premier François Legault, a former PQ minister who formed the Coalition Avenir Québec that he now leads, said he urged his colleagues to stay out of Quebec politics.
Mr. Legault recently announced that he will be stepping down as CAQ Leader, meaning both his party and the Quebec Liberal Party will be selecting new leaders this year before the election.
“It is up to Quebeckers, and only Quebeckers, to decide the future of Quebec,” he said in French.
“At this time, a majority of Quebeckers do not support sovereignty. And there’s an even bigger majority of Quebeckers who do not want a referendum on Quebec sovereignty.”