adminOTTAWA: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney expects the United States (US) administration to continue to respect Canada’s sovereignty, following reports that US officials reportedly held meetings with Alberta separatist groups.
The Financial Times report claims that US State Department officials have held three meetings with the Alberta Prosperity Project (APP), a group that is pushing for a secession referendum to make the energy-producing province independent of Canada.
Carney, during a press conference on Thursday, stressed that his message to US President Donald Trump has always been consistent.
“We expect the US administration to respect Canada’s sovereignty. And I have always been clear in my conversations with President Trump on this matter,” he said.
He also added that Trump never raised the issue of Alberta’s secession in any of their meetings.
APP previously claimed Ottawa’s policies were stifling Alberta’s development, and now plans to hold another meeting with US State Department and Treasury officials to apply for a US$500 billion credit facility.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, however, insisted that she wanted Alberta to remain within Canada.
However, he admitted that about 30 percent of the people in the region are increasingly frustrated with what they consider excessive intervention by the Federal government.
Smith also pressed for the construction of a new pipeline to the Pacific coast, which would require a route through British Columbia — but was firmly rejected by BC Premier David Eby.
Eby described the act of seeking foreign help to divide Canada as a form of “betrayal.”
In a radio interview last week, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reportedly said the United States should “allow” Alberta to join the US if its people wanted it.
When asked about the possibility of a referendum, Bessent said: “The people want sovereignty. They want what the US has.”
Carney and Trump in recent weeks have often publicly criticized each other.
Although Carney described Trump as “a skilled negotiator,” he believed some of Trump’s recent statements may be related to the re-evaluation of the US-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA) scheduled for this year.
– Agency
