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.”
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
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