Trump admin holds secret talks with Canada separatist group

The Trump administration has been holding covert meetings with a fringe group seeking to separate the oil-rich province of Alberta from the rest of Canada, adding a layer of intrigue to the increasingly tense relationship between Washington and Ottawa.

State Department officials have met three times since April with leaders of the Alberta Prosperity Project, which advocates for secession from Canada.

The Alberta Prosperity Project backs an independence referendum in Alberta. The referendum, which has yet to be called, would make Canada’s fourth-largest province an independent nation. A group allied with the project, Stay Free Alberta, is trying to gather the 177,000 signatures necessary for a referendum. If successful, the vote could be scheduled from late 2026 to May 2027.

Alberta Prosperity Project CEO Mitch Sylvestre told The Washington Times that the meetings with U.S. officials have focused on establishing a trade deal in the event Alberta breaks away from Canada. Although he acknowledged that the Alberta Prosperity Project does not have the authority to negotiate such an agreement, he said he didn’t want an independent Alberta to be caught flat-footed if the referendum wins approval.

“Since we do 88% of our trade with the U.S., I think that’s a very prudent step before you go off half-cocked and, all of a sudden, Day 1, you no longer have any trade agreements with anyone,” he said. “It would be good to gauge the temperature in the room.”

Mr. Sylvestre said the Trump administration officials did not make any promises or pledges to help the separatist group. He said Alberta Prosperity Project leaders made it clear that they would prefer the Trump administration stay clear of the independence movement because “the most polarizing thing in Canada is Donald Trump.”

“There were no promises made because what would be the point of them promising three Alberta citizens anything?” he said.

He insisted that the Alberta Prosperity Project’s goal is a sovereign Alberta.

“We definitely don’t want people to think we are doing this to become the 51st state because neither side wants that. Not our side, for sure,” Mr. Sylvestre said.

A White House official declined to confirm the meeting but said officials “meet with a number of civil society groups. No support or commitments were conveyed.”

The normally friendly U.S.-Canada relations have become tense.

President Trump imposed steep tariffs on Canadian goods, touching off a trade war. He repeatedly talked about annexing Canada and making it part of the U.S., exasperating the NATO ally.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney delivered a scathing speech last month at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, warning that Mr. Trump had caused a “rupture” in the global order.

Mr. Carney is also retaliating against Mr. Trump’s tariffs by trying to reduce Canada’s trade with the U.S. and increase trade with China, India and other countries.

When asked about the meetings between Trump officials and the Alberta separatist movement, Mr. Carney, who was raised in Alberta, responded: “We expect the U.S. administration to respect Canadian sovereignty.” He said Mr. Trump had never raised the issue of Alberta separatism with him.

British Columbia Premier David Eby was more direct, calling the behind-the-scenes meetings “treason.”

“To go to a foreign country and to ask for assistance in breaking up Canada, there’s an old-fashioned word for that, and that word is treason,” he said. “It is completely inappropriate to seek to weaken Canada, 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.”

The Alberta Prosperity Project is seeking another meeting with State and Treasury department officials to ask for a $500 billion credit line should Alberta become independent, Jeff Rath, the group’s legal counsel, said in January. Mr. Sylvestre declined to confirm whether the Alberta Prosperity Project would request a credit line.

The Alberta separatist movement has existed in some form or another since 1905. Secession became a key platform of the Social Credit Party, a political party that formed in the province in the 1930s.

The push for independence typically centers on the argument that, because of the money Alberta’s oil industry generates for Canada, the province is getting far less from its taxes than its residents and businesses are paying.

In recent years, however, the Alberta separatist movement has focused on the message that the western province’s more conservative values have been canceled out by the liberal and more populous eastern provinces. Separatists argue that the government’s efforts to curb climate change have hampered Alberta’s oil industry.

Alberta is seeking to build a new oil pipeline to get its oil to tankers in the Pacific faster, but a slew of regulatory and environmental opposition has stalled the project.

“We literally have to get away from the liberal government,” Mr. Sylvestre said. “Alberta has always been conservative, and we don’t get any representation from our government, which is sabotaging our oil industry. It’s the biggest reason we want to leave.”

Alberta is roughly the size of Texas and home to 5 million people. It is nicknamed the “Energy Province” because its oil accounts for about 84% of Canada’s total crude oil production. It is considered the most conservative of the 10 Canadian provinces.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last week that Alberta would be “a natural partner for the U.S.”

“I think we should let them come down into the U.S.,” he told podcaster Jack Posobiec. “They have great resources. The Albertans are very independent people.”

Mr. Bessent said the separation movement likely gained steam because the Canadian government blocked the pipeline planned in the province.

“Alberta has a wealth of natural resources, but they won’t let them build a pipeline to the Pacific,” he said.