Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s office is distancing itself from one of her party presidents who met in Calgary with U.S. Republican strategists looking to assist the province’s separation movement.
Smith’s spokesperson Sam Blackett, in a statement Monday, said the premier “is not affiliated with these individuals’ activities and has no knowledge of these alleged meetings.”
“She also opposes separation or becoming a U.S. state.”
Blackett’s statement declined to answer questions put to him on what, if anything, Smith will do about Mitch Sylvestre’s presence at the meeting.
Sylvestre is the president for the Bonnyville-Cold Lake UCP constituency association.
He also heads up the pro-separation Alberta Prosperity Project and spearheaded a petition that ultimately gathered enough signatures for a provincewide separation vote, before a judge quashed it in court earlier this year.
On the weekend, the Globe and Mail reported and quoted him being among a group that met with U.S. Republican strategists in Calgary in January to look at software designed to identify and mobilize supporters.
Sylvestre told the Globe and Mail he was uncomfortable with the meeting and balked at using the Alberta Prosperity Project membership list to power the project, citing legal and privacy concerns.
The article also said separatist leaders reportedly suggested exchanging water and oil for U.S. support when it met with State Department officials in Washington, D.C., last year.
Sylvestre on Monday denied any discussion about access to water or oil taking place during the three meetings in Washington, though he said he only attended one meeting in September.
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“We have no authority to do any of that,” he said in an interview.
“We’re not in government. We can’t go down there and have that conversation.”
Jeff Rath, another leading face in the separatist movement who had attended all of the Washington meetings, also denied that oil and water were on the table in any meaningful way.
“The story is completely false,” he said.
“The whole water thing is inflammatory and the suggestion of a U.S. royalty on Alberta oil is just ludicrous.”
Asked if he would support such an exchange, Sylvestre said he had never thought about it but that he thinks there’s enough homegrown support for Alberta independence to make U.S. support unnecessary.
Sylvestre also said that he only attended one of the Washington meetings because he didn’t see them as being useful given how far away Alberta is from seceding.
“We’re in a question-to-ask-a-question phase,” he said referring to the upcoming Oct. 19 referendum.
The Globe and Mail report has raised concerns about foreign involvement as Albertans prepare to vote in two weeks on whether to stay in Canada or launch a second, binding referendum on quitting.
In Ottawa, the Conservative MP leading his party’s efforts to convince Albertans to stay in Canada says he is concerned by reports of the Washington meeting.
“Absolutely nobody has a right to promise away Alberta’s birthright, which is our natural resources,” Dane Lloyd said.
Lloyd said he wouldn’t speculate on whether the reported activity amounted to foreign interference or how the matter should be investigated.
Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree deferred questions about the reporting to Canada’s security agency CSIS. But he said they expect democratic events “to be governed under democratic principles.”
In Calgary, Mayor Jeromy Farkas, a staunch critic of Alberta’s separatist movement, said the report shows independence leaders are putting the province’s future at risk.
“They say (separation) is about taking back control, then go begging to Washington for support,” Farkas said in a video posted to social media.
“That’s not taking back Alberta. That’s selling Alberta out.”
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Elections Alberta is projecting a record turnout on Oct. 19. Public opinion polls suggest a large majority will vote to stay in Canada.
Smith has said separation is a burning issue in the province that must be addressed.
The premier has repeatedly cited hundreds of thousands of citizens signing petitions for and against staying in Canada.
Critics, including Opposition NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi, say there is no burning separatist sentiment and that Smith is exploiting fringe grievances to placate separatists in her United Conservative Party in order to keep her job and keep the party from fracturing.
This is the second time in a week Smith has been asked about taking action against those within her United Conservative caucus and party.
Last week, Smith declined to take action against caucus member Jason Stephan, who represents Red Deer-South, after Stephan confirmed to CBC he is voting in favour of a second referendum on separation.
In a social media post last week, Stephan said voting for a binding referendum was “the right way.”
Smith said her party tolerates differences of opinion but that their official position is for Alberta to stay in Canada.
Sylvestre said he hasn’t faced any pressure from Smith or her office to change course since he launched a petition, or in the wake of the meetings in Washington or with Republican strategists.
“And it wouldn’t matter. I’m a UCP member, same as her,” he said.
On Friday, Nenshi said Smith’s refusal to act in response to Stephan is telling.
“She’s not focused on your priorities, she’s focused on keeping her party together, cheating to win and keeping the separatists happy,” Nenshi said.
“But most of all, she’s focused on protecting her own political skin.”
— With files from The Canadian Press reporter Alessia Passafiume in Ottawa
In Feb 2026 YouGov ran a national poll of 26,590 U.S. adults and asked “Would you support your state seceding from the U.S.?”
27% of Californians were in favour.
That’s higher than separation polls in Alberta. Some movement. Limp. Just loud, angry, contrarian cranks.
Why would she be aware? She isn’t a part of the movement. Only Elbows Up folks outside Alberta think that. Quebec has now elected a Sovereignist Govt, why can’t Alberta.
@ anonymous…..get your cousins to move back to your own country and stay out of ours and I will. # gobacktoalberta!
And people aren’t moving to Alberta…they moving BACK to Alberta. The party is over….back to the motherland!
canada is a shitehole, Alberta and Quebec know it is, time for canada to f*ck off!
Danielle’s was called “two-faced” in high school. Then husbands. Then people as she climbed the Wild Rose. Then she told them never to cross the floor. Then she crossed the floor. Then she sucked up to Kenney. Then she backstabbed Kenney. Then she ….and so on…including stabbing her province and country.
Loyalty ain’t her thing.
Smith is a clown. But those separatists are just tools waiting to be used.
If Smith said she was aware the Clowney Elbows Up Liberals like Ben would call her a traitor. They play the game either way.
Sure Skanky Smith.
Ben its time for you to go to bed! go to your room before mom gets mad
global is ramping up the liberal bots for discouragement to spit votes .anything to protect the corrupt liberal government
Bc resident you punjab loving pos mind your own business Alberta is not BC
Sad to say but the leader of the Wildrose party is acting as the Premier and dividing our province and nation trying to spread the separatist ideology and trying to deny it at the same time. Have never seen such a political mess that we have now as the leadership is only worried about their ideology and forgets about the other people that are not in their base.
Maybe she can cross the floor some more and destroy the UCP like she did with the Progressive conservatives and start up the Wildrose again.
As a Conservative voter my whole life I am so ashamed to what they have become both federally and provincially. Have way too many separatists and racist people in the party and are losing their voters by the day.
I support Eby. The number one reason why successful people in my province are moving to Alberta as fast as they can! Remember that when you consider my musings.
I align with Mao and all those like him! Praise dear leader! Submit to dear leader!
Who cares? They aren’t elected. They have no actual say in anything if a motion to separate is taken. This is the usual stoking of fear by the usual suspects. It amounts to nothing
Marc Carney pre-election said China is the biggest national security risk to canada then after elected less than a year later announced they’ll be our new closest partner.
Marc Carney said “judge me by the prices at the grocery stores” while we have the highest grocery inflation costs in the world.
Marc Carney said he would lower gas prices.
The liberals DOUBLED our national debt in just 10 years to a whopping 1.4 TRILLION dollars.
Housing costs DOUBLED under the liberals.
Homelessness, drug addiction and foodbank visits at all time highs under the liberals.
Uncontrolled mass immigration, housing crisis, healthcare crisis….
Quick, quick, put put another Trump, republican or Pierre pollievre article!
Absolutely disgusting.
Elbows Down Clowns 🤡
She buys her knee pads at Costco!
Lolha 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣
She has been bending over for them all along.
So yes she is aware.
@Anonymous 727pm. You are correct of course, Smith could not possibly know about things at that level, so she would not be in the loop.
I guess what little Marco said about 45-47’s small hands is true. Helmet shiner Dani tried and tried but dOnnie can’t get it up so she blew all @ Marablowjob to make sure she was needed to supply the US with separatist dummy oil.
LIAR!
@ Ben – It is unlikely that the Premier would be in the loop on the ethically questionable goings on. Plausible deniability is crucial for longevity. Successful politicians are generally unprincipled survivors. It’s the nature of their profession.
Traditionally, politicians are smarter than current batch of Republican bootlickers. Personal survival used to be more important than loyalty. Trump has made loyalty paramount for survival. The talent pool is so thin because the survivors all left when they saw what was going on.
Like shes gonna admit anything. Frigging TRAITOR!!
@Ben. Like you pal Clowney who wants to join the EU as he can’t get a deal with Trump.
The bottom line is that all Separatists are are totally stupid – separating from Canada and joining the Trump gang is total insanity.
United we stand, divided we fall.
With the greatest of respect to the office of the Premier, Danielle Smith as a Premier is oblivious and is not known as a deep thinker.
@ Alberta First – ALBERTANS, show separatists how much you HATE THEM!
ALBERTAN’S, show ottawa how fcking much you HATE THEM!
In many US states voters register as Republican or Democrat. We don’t in Canada. The US Ambassador to Canada, Pete Hoekstra, was part of the Republican’s use of the 10X voting app in Michigan which relied on personal relationships to increase turnout on their side. This is why there is a scandal about the use of the voter lists in Alberta. The 10X methodology needs voter lists to work.
It has been speculated that the separatists in Alberta used these methods to inflate the signature numbers on their petition.
As I understand the 10X app it checked an individual’s contact list in their phone against the voter rolls for those people that did not vote last time so they could be encouraged to vote this time. The assumption being that if they are in a contact list of someone that votes one way, they are likely to vote the same way. It was intended to increase turnout, but only on the Republican side. Unless Elections Alberta called everyone on the separatist petition it’s not possible to know how many signatures ended up being forged using this method.
Elbows Up Canadians will lose their minds once the PQ get elected in Quebec. But Carney wanted Frechette to win….but, but Elbows Up
this is good news ,it give me more confidence voting for separation
joe 4:15 your liberal government need to be rounded up and tossed in jail for massive corruption ,and a unprecedented scale. and you as well for supporting criminals
doing homework needs to be done before separation .i don’t see a problem
What a paid for fear mongering story. Global should be ashamed… Sylvester turned it down on approach. Can’t Global at least try to not look like a “painted up paid for”?
Yet the mindless liberal drones ignore the fact that PQ leaders have been meeting with the White House administration for weeks now.
It seems like they know in their rotten black hollow souls that Alberta pays the bills and Quebec is just the drunk party crasher no one wants to invite
Does Dane Lloyd, have the authority to promise water and oil to the US? Of course not! Yet he wants us to believe that an unelected citizen who is part of a grassroots movement does? I’m not sure this MP understands enough to hold his position. This is obviously fear mongering with no basis in reality.
Arrest the separatists leaders who are working with the trump American government . Yankee Doodle Danny should be the first one .
It all started with Smith galivanting down and schmoozing The Donald. Drinking his booze, eating his food, sleeping in the wh*rehouse. It all stems from her.
That’s treason and should be treated as such. End of story.
The truth is Alberta would be better off joining the USA than staying Elbows Up in Canada.
We need more laughable Smith votes and less hospital beds? UCP
TK: wanna bet a hundred?
Or maybe separtists are just scumbag traitors who would sell out their province and country to dementia Donnie and his gang of crooks.
And also Farkas stay in your lane dude. You get one vote just like everyone else. Concentrate on lowering those property taxes that you campaigned on were you said if elected you would get lower. I knew I smelled a rat when you stepped on the scene. Unfortunately for the rest of us that tried to vote for Sharpe we ended up with Gondek/Nenshi 2.0.
1 term mayor again.
More propaganda… I swear for all the pollsters out there saying that there is no chance at separation they sure out in full force and worried about it.