Alberta separatists tout U.S. meetings, Smith pushes back

Alberta separatist leaders claim momentum after a second round of meetings in Washington, D.C., with senior figures from the Trump administration.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Alberta separatist leaders claim momentum after a second round of meetings in Washington, D.C., with senior figures from the Trump administration. However, Premier Danielle Smith insists her government is pursuing a different path.

On Monday, Alberta Prosperity Project lawyer Jeffrey Rath, CEO Mitch Sylvestre and chairman Dennis Modry met with high-level American officials to discuss Alberta independence.

Rath described the significance of the meetings with “very senior representatives of the U.S. administration.”

“Recognition of Alberta as an Independent Country and complete free trade with the USA with zero tariffs on all goods and services are all on the table when Albertans vote to leave Canada,” he said.

Rath added he found it interesting that more support for Alberta independence was coming from the U.S. than from Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. He claimed a “super majority of her party members” support Alberta independence.

In a separate post, Rath emphasized U.S. interest in Alberta’s sovereignty push.

“The interest in #AlbertaIndependence is palpable,” he said. “We all agree that Alberta must be freed from the destructive forces of the Communist Chinese adjacent Canadian Government in Ottawa.”

Smith commented on the meetings at an unrelated press conference Monday.

She said her position has been clear amid her recent 10 Alberta Next panel town halls and online surveys.

“My objective is to have a strong and sovereign Alberta within a united Canada,” said Smith.

“That’s what I’ve been working with the federal government under its new leadership to try to get a ‘Grand Bargain,’ as I’ve been calling it, to get new bitumen pipeline to the coast, the Pathways Project, and address the nine bad laws,” she added. “That’s what I feel my responsibility is is to is to try to make sure that Alberta has a new and renewed relationship with Ottawa, as well as part of what the Alberta Next panel discussion is about is to identify the ways in which we we may take on more of the responsibilities as we become stronger as an economy and have a stronger population.”

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith previously issued nine demands for Carney to accomplish in his first six months in office “to avoid an unprecedented national unity crisis.”

Smith gave Carney six months to implement the demands, but the prime minister has not followed through on any of them. Although the ban on new gas vehicles has not been abandoned, as Smith demanded, it has been paused.

A recent billboard campaign graded Carney on his progress with Alberta’s demands.

He received an F for repealing the single-use plastics ban, a C for repealing the net-zero vehicle mandate and an F- for repealing legislation that censors energy companies.

The Alberta Prosperity Project has been spearheading a petition to force a referendum on separation, proposing the question: “Do you agree that the Province of Alberta shall become a Sovereign Country and cease to be a province of Canada?” That petition remains stalled pending a constitutional review ordered by the Alberta Court of King’s Bench earlier this year.

In August, Court of King’s Bench Justice Colin Feasby ruled the referendum question requires a full constitutional review, with a decision expected by year’s end.

Smith had previously pledged to allow Albertans a vote on separation in 2026 if the required number of signatures is collected. However, she recently said she was doing everything in her power to “prevent” a referendum vote, a comment that drew criticism from the independence movement.

While former cabinet minister Thomas Lukaszuk’s petition must proceed under the old rules due to an early filing blunder, requiring collecting 293,976 signatures in 90 days, the Alberta Prosperity Project’s would proceed under the new threshold of 177,000 over 120 days.

However, Republican Party of Alberta Leader Cam Davies previously told True North that Bill 54 was why the Alberta Prosperity Project’s petition was tied up in court.

“Bill 54 had a number of tripwires and pitfalls contained,” said Davies. “There was no requirement until the UCP placed that requirement in Bill 54 for the courts to intervene and make sure that it passed the federal sniff test.”

“It was never her intention to allow this question to come to a vote. It has always been the Premier’s intention to deter, stifle and ensure that this vote never comes about,” said Davies.

The Alberta Prosperity Project’s 44-page costed fiscal plan highlighted Alberta’s economic future under independence.

The plan projects that an independent Alberta would generate $4.71 trillion in revenue between 2025 and 2045, save nearly $700 billion, create 300,000-450,000 jobs, and invest $1.3 to $1.4 trillion in the Heritage Fund.