Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, asked on Thursday about reports that US officials have met with separatists seeking independence for the province of Alberta, said Thursday that he hoped the US administration would respect Canada’s sovereignty.
Carney said Trump never questioned Alberta’s separatism. (Bloomberg)The Financial Times said State Department officials held three meetings with the Alberta Prosperity Project, a group pushing for a referendum on whether the energy-producing western province should secede from Canada.
“We expect the US administration to respect Canadian sovereignty. I’ve always been clear in my conversations with President Trump,” Carney told a news conference.
Trump, he added, never raised the question of Alberta’s separatism with him.
APP, which says Ottawa’s policies are stifling the province, wants another meeting with state and treasury officials next month to discuss a $500 billion credit facility, the Financial Times reported.
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Alberta Premier Daniel Smith said he wanted to remain part of Canada but noted that 30% of the population was upset by Ottawa’s excessive interference.
Alberta is landlocked and Smith is pushing for another oil pipeline to the Pacific coast. It would have to bypass the neighboring province of British Columbia, whose Premier David Eby has rejected the idea.
Eby, whose relationship with Smith is generally frosty, previously told reporters that “going abroad and asking for help to break Canada … is treasonous”.
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Last week, US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant told a radio station: “I think we should let them come to the US”.
Asked about a possible Alberta referendum, he replied: “People want sovereignty. They want what the United States got.”
Carney and Trump have traded barbs repeatedly in recent weeks. Carney, who has called the US president a skilled negotiator, suggested some of Trump’s recent comments could be linked to a review of the US-Mexico-Canada trade deal set to begin later this year.
