Toronto: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he hopes the United States will respect his country’s sovereignty, after a report emerged that separatists from the western province of Alberta recently met with American officials.
Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada, speaks during the First Ministers meeting in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on Thursday. (Bloomberg)”I hope the U.S. administration will respect Canadian sovereignty,” Carney said during a press conference after meeting with provincial leaders on Thursday.
He added that he was “always clear” about this in his conversations with US President Donald Trump.
The Financial Times report added to the breakdown in relations between the two neighboring countries.
Canadian media reported that the US State Department confirmed that such a meeting had taken place but added that it “regularly meets with civil society types” and that “no commitments are usually made in such routine meetings”.
Alberta secessionists are trying to collect enough signatures for a referendum this fall. Alberta Premier Daniel Smith, who attended the press conference, said the province had about 30% support for sovereignty and blamed the sense of isolation on Carney’s predecessor, Justin Trudeau. “I think we also have to be realistic that for ten years under Justin Trudeau’s government, our province was attacked relentlessly,” he said. Relations have improved since Carney took over as prime minister.
British Columbia Premier David Eby likened the separatists’ approach to “treason”.
Smith said he did not want to “demonize” those seeking sovereignty. But, he stressed, “I would hope that the US administration respects Canadian sovereignty and that they limit their discussions about Alberta’s democratic process to Albertans and Canadians.” That view was supported by Carney.
Those meetings with U.S. officials were not secret, however, as separatist leader Jeff Rath told the Globe and Mail last week, “When I say we’re meeting at the highest level of the U.S. government, we’re meeting at the highest level of the U.S. government.”
“We plan to meet with them again in February to continue the dialogue,” Rath added, welcoming statements like those from U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant, who called Alberta a “natural partner.”
Alberta’s potential referendum is not the only separatist challenge facing Canada. Elections in the francophone province of Quebec, scheduled for October, could bring the Sovereign Parti Québécois to power, and its leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon has promised an independence referendum in its platform.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford recently described such a result as a “disaster” for Canada. But current Quebec Premier François Legault said in French that it was a decision for Quebecers and them alone.
However, he added that support for both referendum and secession in the province is quite low.
