B.C. Premier David Eby called meetings between members of an Alberta separatist group and officials in the Trump administration “treason” Thursday morning.
Eby says he planned on bringing up the issue at the First Ministers Meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney and other premiers in Ottawa today.
Eby refused to describe the people who had the meeting as Albertans, saying that people from that province “overwhelmingly want to stay in Canada.”
The B.C. premier said he respects the desire to hold a referendum in Alberta and for people to exercise their right to free speech, but he believes the meeting crosses the line.
“There’s an old-fashioned word for that, and that word is ‘treason,’” said Eby. “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 and, with respect, a president who has not been particularly respectful of Canada’s sovereignty.”
Legal counsel for the group Stay Free Alberta, Jeffery Rath, says they met with U.S. officials three times last year, in July, September and December. Rath calls Eby’s comments “ludicrous.”
“We were there on a fact-finding basis, there’s nothing treasonous about it,” Rath told CTV News.
The sovereigntist group confirms it was conducting a feasibility study with Trump officials and other financial institutions about $500 billion in credit facility in the event of a successful referendum on Alberta independence.
“That’s what we’re working on, I mean, to determine whether that that facility would be available on a going-forward-basis,” Rath said. “Whether it’s with U.S. Treasury or Goldman Sachs or JP Morgan through a bond issue, or whatever,” Rath said.
A senior U.S. State Department official wouldn’t confirm any type of request for $500 billion, but told CTV News on background, “The Department regularly meets with civil society types. As is typical in routine meetings such as these, no commitments were made.”
A similar comment from the White House, where another official -- also speaking on background -- said the administration meets with civil society groups and that no commitments were conveyed.
Eby also called on Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and other premiers to call out the meeting as “unacceptable conduct.”
While reiterating that she supported a “strong and sovereign Alberta within Canada,” Smith did not describe the meetings as treasonous.
“I would expect that the U.S. administration would respect Canadian sovereignty, and that they would confine their discussion about Alberta’s democratic process to Albertans and to Canadians,” Smith told reporters at a news conference with all premiers and the prime minister.
She also noted she’ll raise the issue with her Alberta delegate in Washington, so he can raise it with members of the Trump administration.
That sentiment around sovereignty was echoed by Carney when he was asked to comment on the actions of the separatist group.
“I would expect the U.S. administration to respect Canadian sovereignty. I’m always clear my conversation with President Trump to that effect, and then move on to what we can do together,” said Carney.
Recently, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called Alberta a “natural partner for the U.S.,” adding the western province should be allowed to expand oil shipments through the U.S.
The prime minister would not specifically answer a question as to whether he thought these recent events amounted to foreign interference by the U.S.
Ontario’s Doug Ford described the meeting as “going behind Canada’s back” at a time when he says the country should be sticking together.
“We all know where President Trump stands. He wants Canada, and that’s not going to happen,” Ford told reporters. “I don’t know about treason, it’s unacceptable, it’s unethical.”
“This is an opportunity for Premier Smith to stand up and say enough is enough,” said the premier.
On her radio show earlier this week, Smith pushed back on any notion of Alberta separatists being interested in joining the U.S.
“I would say, when I talk to people (Canadians) who are frustrated with the way we’ve (Albertans) been treated (by Ottawa) for the past 10 years, they don’t say, ‘therefore I want to be an American state.’ That is not what I am hearing.
“They (separatist Albertans) want a new relationship with Canada. And that’s what I’m doing,” she said.
The Alberta independence movement has been collecting signatures, with the goal of initiating a provincial referendum on whether Alberta should separate from Canada.
While supporting the right of people to express themselves in a free and democratic country, New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt believes Albertans will choose to stay in Canada.
“I think you’re talking about a minority of people who are agitating, and I am very optimistic that the majority of Albertans will demonstrate their love for this country and their desire to be a part of it and whatever comes next.”
In a more light-hearted moment, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew noted that all of the referendum talk makes him want to hold one in his province. “Except in Manitoba, the question is going to be; do you want to stay a part of Canada? And the two choices are going to be ‘yeah’ and ‘Heck yeah!’”
With files from CTV News Calgary’s Stephen Hunt and CTV Calgary’s Tyler Barrow
