Carney Warns Trump Administration After Reports of Secret Meetings With Alberta Separatists

Backers of a separatist movement in Alberta — an oil and cattle-fueled province more akin to Texas than the rest of Canada — are irking their fellow Canadians by asking the Trump administration for help in breaking away as an independent nation.Word that a delegation will soon travel to Washington, Stetson hats in hand seeking financial support, raised more than eyebrows at a meeting of federal and provincial leaders this week in Ottawa, where one provincial premier accused the separatists of treason.Prime Minister Mark Carney, who is already on the outs with President Trump over his recent remarks at Davos, was more measured in his response but left little doubt about his feelings.“I would expect the U.S. administration to respect Canadian sovereignty,” Mr. Carney said Thursday after his meetings with the premiers. “I’m always clear with my conversations with President Trump to that effect and then move on to what we can do together.”Advocates of secession for the western province have begun collecting signatures to force a constitutional referendum on the issue. Residents of Canada’s most conservative province have long railed against federal environmental policies that they feel are holding back the province’s oil industry.Organizers of the Stay Free campaign say they have held meetings with Trump administration officials in Washington and are asking the United States Treasury for a $500 billion line of credit to bankroll a new country if they are successful. The group has another meeting scheduled with American officials in February.Alberta Prosperity Project lawyer Jeff Rath says the group has a “much stronger relationship” with the Trump administration than with the Canadian national government.Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant noted the separatist campaign in a recent interview with Real America’s Voice, saying, “They have great resources. The Albertans are a very independent people.”“People want sovereignty. They want what the U.S. has got,” Mr. Bessant added, claiming Ottawa won’t allow construction of a new oil pipeline to the Pacific. In fact, Mr. Carney’s government signed a memorandum of understanding with Alberta for a new pipeline in November.A representative of the United States Department of State confirmed to the Canadian Broadcast Corporation that meetings have already taken place with the separatist group over the past several months, but added “no commitments were made.”The premier and Conservative Party leader in Alberta, Danielle Smith, is telling Trump officials to butt out of any push for independence.“I would expect the U.S. administration would respect Canadian sovereignty and they would confine their discussion about Alberta’s democratic process to Albertans and to Canadians,” Ms. Smith said Thursday.“I’ve raised that with my delegate in Washington so that he can raise that with the administration, and I will raise it with my delegate in Ottawa so he can raise it with the U.S. ambassador,” Ms. Smith added.The premier of Alberta’s western neighbor, British Columbia, went further during a meeting Thursday in Ottawa, charging that the separatists’ appeal for American funding amounts to treason.President Trump’s return to the White House last year and his support of the oil industry have invigorated efforts by the separatists. Supporters at an independence rally last summer wore “Make Alberta Great Again” hats.Mr. Trump has long suggested that all of Canada join America as its 51st state. He has levied tariffs on imports and Canada is one of a few notable countries that have not reached new agreements with America since Mr. Trump’s Liberation Day trade reset.A recent “strategic partnership” deal announced between Canada and China has brought new warnings from Mr. Trump, as has Mr. Carney’s speech to the World Economic Forum at Davos in which he urged leaders of middle-power countries to resist superpowers.“Canada lives because of the United States,” Mr. Trump said in his own speech to the forum. “Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements.”Mr. Trump also said he was withdrawing an invitation for Mr. Carney to join his new Board of Peace.

Carney Warns Trump Administration After Reports of Secret Meetings With Alberta Separatists

Carney Warns Trump Administration After Reports of Secret Meetings With Alberta Separatists

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