Alberta separatists boast cabinet-level meeting with Trump administration
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Three men from Alberta gathered in a government building in Washington, D.C., this week to meet with cabinet-level U.S. officials about the potential for American support of an independent Alberta.
Jeff Rath, Mitch Sylvestre and Dennis Modry, the cofounder, CEO, and chairman of the Alberta Prosperity Project (APP), respectively, visited the Capitol on Monday for their second round of talks with American leaders about Albertan independence. The APP, an educational organization that promotes sovereignty, had its first meeting with the Americans back in April.
“We’re literally one degree of separation from the Oval Office,” Rath said of Monday’s meeting.
The group met with special assistants and advisers the first time, he said, but this time, “the level of the meeting has been elevated as an indication of the strong support from the United States for Alberta independence,” Rath said, noting that he has been asked not to divulge names.
He did add, however, that the officials were at the cabinet level and that one left their meeting to go directly to the Oval Office.
Do Albertans really want to secede?
Albertans want lower taxes, deregulation, and more control over policing, immigration and trade. But rather than negotiating with Ottawa for more power, the way Premier Danielle Smith is, the APP wants Alberta to control its own future.
Support for Albertan independence has grown with the province’s frustrations with Ottawa. A provincial poll this month indicates that the governing United Conservative Party (UCP) has 43 per cent of voter support in the province, but the independence-leaning Republican Party of Alberta has 11 per cent, which notably includes strong rural support.
Rath said support for independence is higher than the numbers suggest — and that 75 per cent of the UCP is on board, with many of them being members of the APP.
But polling numbers and experts tend to disagree with Rath. An Angus Reid poll in May showed support for Alberta independence at 36 per cent.
“The day that I see Edmonton Oilers or Calgary Flames fans booing the Canadian anthem in their respective arenas, I might take (the independence) movement more seriously,” said Graeme Thompson, a senior analyst with Eurasia Group’s global macro team.
While acknowledging that the province has “legitimate grievances” about representation by Ottawa, “there is a really long road to go before you get to 50 per cent plus one of Albertans voting to leave Canada,” he added.
Adrienne Davidson, assistant professor of political science at McMaster University, is also skeptical.
I haven’t seen anything compelling yet to suggest that the referendum question, were it to move forward, would get anywhere near the support that would be required to actually move it into sort of the next stage of the game,” she said.
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