B.C. premier says Alberta separatists’ secret US talks amount to ‘treason’

Covert meetings between separatist activists in Alberta and members of Donald Trump’s administration amount to “treason”, British Columbia premier David Eby said on Thursday, after revelations first reported by the Financial Times that far-right activists met US state department officials.

“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,” Eby told reporters, saying it was “completely inappropriate to seek to weaken Canada” and criticising a president he said had not been “particularly respectful of Canada’s sovereignty.” The Alberta independence movement has only minority support, the report said, but organisers are collecting signatures to trigger a referendum and aim to gather nearly 178,000 signatures over the next few months.

Organisers have publicly said they want a $500bn credit facility from the US treasury to help fund the creation of a new country if the referendum succeeds. Alberta premier Danielle Smith has rejected separation and said she “supports a strong and sovereign Alberta within a united Canada”, but faces criticism that her government recently made it easier for residents to petition for a referendum.

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