(AFP) – Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday he expects the United States to “respect Canadian sovereignty,” responding to reports that State Department officials met with separatists from the oil-rich province of Alberta. A group called the Alberta Prosperity Project (APP) has received approval to collect signatures in support of a referendum seeking to make the western province an independent country. An independence vote could be held as early as this fall. The Financial Times reported that APP leaders have met State Department officials in Washington three times since April.
The report followed comments last week from US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who appeared supportive of Alberta’s independence push. “Alberta is a natural partner for the US. They have great resources. The Albertans are very independent people,” Bessent told right-wing broadcaster Real America’s Voice. Carney spoke to reporters Thursday alongside Canada’s provincial leaders, including Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, a right-wing oil industry advocate who has visited with President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
Asked about the FT report and Bessent’s comments, Carney said: “I expect the US administration to respect Canadian sovereignty.” Carney noted that Trump had not raised Albertan independence or the separatist movement in the French-speaking province of Quebec in any of their direct conversations. Unlike the decades-old, well-organized separatist camp in Quebec, Albertan independence has not previously posed a threat to Canadian unity. However, resentment against Ottawa mounted in the province during former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s decade in office.
Albertans viewed Trudeau’s climate-conscious government as hostile to the oil sector that drives their economy and accused him of blocking infrastructure projects sought by oil and gas companies. Smith affirmed Thursday that she “would expect that the US administration would respect Canadian sovereignty,” and said she would raise any issues related to referendum meddling with Washington. She reiterated her support for a “sovereign Alberta, within a united Canada,” but accused Trudeau of fueling alienation in her province.
“For 10 years under Justin Trudeau’s government, our province was relentlessly attacked, our economy was relentlessly attacked,” she told reporters. Smith has indicated that Carney’s cooperation on advancing a new oil pipeline to the Pacific coast could be helpful in reducing support for independence. The proposed pipeline is a controversial project that would have to run through British Columbia, where Pacific coast First Nations have vowed to block it. BC’s Premier David Eby on Tuesday accused the separatists who reportedly held meetings in Washington of committing “treason.” A January 23 poll from Ipsos found 28 percent of Albertans would vote yes to independence.
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