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(Bloomberg) — British Columbia Premier David Eby said Alberta separatists who have sought help from Washington in their quest to gain independence from Canada are carrying out an act of immense disloyalty.
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“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,” said Eby, the leader of Canada’s westernmost province, which is Alberta’s neighbor.
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The Financial Times reported that officials in the Trump administration have held meetings with people involved in the Alberta Prosperity Project, a group that is working on a petition to hold an independence referendum in the oil-rich region of western Canada.
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A separatist organizer, Jeffrey Rath, told Bloomberg News earlier this month that he has met with US State Department officials three times and they are supporting his cause. He declined to name the officials.
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The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The department has previously declined to comment on whether US officials have met with Alberta separatists.
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Rath said in an interview this week that separatists are seeking a $500 billion credit line from the US if they are successful in a referendum, so that “we’ll just be able to trigger it and Canada won’t be able to threaten us.”
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“Lest any of us be accused of soliciting foreign interference, of course all of these discussions are purely academic. We’re just going down there to determine from a purely academic perspective what may or may not be possible, hypothetically in the future,” he said, laughing.
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The organizers are currently trying to collect about 180,000 signatures that would trigger a vote under provincial government legislation.
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“It is completely inappropriate to seek to weaken Canada, to seek to go and ask for assistance to break up this country, from a foreign power,” Eby said Thursday in Ottawa. “And with respect, a president who has not been particularly respectful of Canada’s sovereignty.”
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President Donald Trump has been at odds with Prime Minister Mark Carney recently, including over Carney’s decision to strike a deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The agreement between the two countries allows a limited number of Chinese electric vehicles to be imported into Canada at a lower tariff rate, and also foresees more co-operation between the two nations on energy and other matters.
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—With assistance from Iain Marlow.
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English (US)