Canadian leaders have strongly condemned the Trump administration's meetings with secessionists from Alberta. Separatists seeking support for the province's independence have held meetings with administration officials at least three times since last April, the Financial Times reports. "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," British Columbia Premier David Eby told reporters before a meeting between premiers and Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday.
"It is completely inappropriate to seek to weaken Canada, to go and ask for assistance, to break up this country from a foreign power and—with respect—a president who has not been particularly respectful of Canada's sovereignty," Eby said. The Alberta independence movement remains a minority cause, but organizers are pushing for a referendum and gathering the 177,732 signatures needed to trigger a vote, the Guardian reports. The pro-independence Alberta Prosperity Project group, whose leaders have held high-level talks with Trump administration officials, has said it wants a $500 billion credit line from the US Treasury to finance a breakaway state if Albertans vote for independence.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said Thursday she opposes separation and backs "a strong and sovereign Alberta within a united Canada," but she is under fire for changes that made it easier to launch referendums. Ontario Premier Doug Ford urged her to tell separatists "enough is enough." The CBC reports that Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew joked that he wants to hold a referendum as well, "except in Manitoba the question is going to be 'do you want to stay a part of Canada?' and the two choices are going to be yeah and heck yeah." Carney kept his comments brief, saying he expects the US to "respect Canadian sovereignty" and the Alberta issue has not come up his talks with Trump.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appeared to validate the movement's ambitions in a recent conservative media interview, praising Albertans as a "very independent people." "People are talking," he told Real America's Voice. "People want sovereignty. They want what the US has got." The White House downplayed the meetings with secessionists, the Financial Times reports. "Administration officials meet with a number of civil society groups," a spokesperson said. "No such support, or any other commitments, was conveyed." A referendum could happen as soon as this fall, though the CBC reports that a poll earlier this month put support for independence at just 19%.
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