Ten days before Albertans vote on whether to begin a process toward leaving Canada, separatist leaders are disputing a Globe and Mail account of their meetings with U.S. State Department officials and Republican strategists, while MPs in Ottawa press for a federal response.
No federal or Alberta agency has announced an investigation into the meetings. A Leger survey released this week found 70 per cent of Albertans say the province should remain in Canada, up from 65 per cent in August, while 22 per cent back starting the legal process toward a binding separation referendum and seven per cent are undecided.
Leger surveyed 1,001 Alberta adults online from Oct. 2 to 4, 2026, through its LEO panel. Because the sample is not random, no margin of error applies; Leger said a probability sample of that size would carry a margin of error of no more than plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
The controversy centres on two sets of meetings described in a Globe and Mail investigation published over the weekend of Oct. 3 and 4.
The first were three meetings in Washington between members of the Alberta Prosperity Project, a pro-independence group, and State Department officials in 2025. Co-founder Dennis Modry told NBC News in February that he attended all three, on April 22, Sept. 29 and Dec. 16, and lawyer Jeff Rath said they took place at the department’s headquarters. The U.S. officials involved have not been named.
The Globe reported that separatist leaders suggested exchanging fresh water and oil royalties for U.S. support. Modry told the newspaper the group gave officials a document on “the potential benefits of Alberta sovereignty,” and that ideas included U.S. help with the costs of a transition, to be repaid through options such as a railway right-of-way to Alaska, “oil royalties or land access,” Newsweek reported, citing the Globe. Modry said he did not advocate Alberta becoming a U.S. state. The Globe’s reporting does not allege that any agreement was reached.
Rath, who the Globe reported arranged the Washington meetings, rejected that account. “The story is completely false,” he told Global News, calling the suggestion of U.S. royalties on Alberta oil “ludicrous.” Newsweek reported he said the talks were general and “about the aspirations of Albertans and Alberta for independence.”
Mitch Sylvestre, who leads the Alberta Prosperity Project and is president of the United Conservative Party’s Bonnyville-Cold Lake constituency association, said he attended only the September meeting and denied that water or oil was discussed, Global News reported.
The second meeting took place in Calgary in January 2026, when Sylvestre was among a group that met U.S. Republican strategists to look at software designed to identify and mobilize supporters of separation, according to the Globe and Mail, Global News and The Canadian Press. The Globe reported the strategists were from Michigan. Sylvestre said he was uncomfortable with the meeting and refused to let the group’s membership list be used for the project, citing legal and privacy concerns.
U.S. officials have described the Washington talks as routine. “As is typical in routine meetings such as these, no commitments were made,” a senior State Department official told NBC News in February, adding that only staff-level officials took part. A White House official said at the time that “no support or commitments were conveyed.”
The Alberta government has distanced itself from the meetings. Premier Danielle Smith “is not affiliated with these individuals’ activities and has no knowledge of these alleged meetings,” her spokesperson Sam Blackett said in an Oct. 5 statement, adding that Smith “also opposes separation or becoming a U.S. state.” The statement did not say whether Smith would take any action regarding Sylvestre’s party role.
In Ottawa, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s office repeated his earlier position that “we expect the U.S. administration to respect Canadian sovereignty in the context of the Alberta referendum,” Newsweek reported. Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree referred questions to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and said democratic events should be governed by democratic principles, according to Global News.
Calgary Liberal MP Corey Hogan told the Globe and Mail he does not believe the talks meet the bar for treason, but said they were wrong. “If we don’t have a law that covers them, I think we should at least be thinking about whether we need one,” he said.
NDP MP Heather McPherson of Edmonton Strathcona asked for an emergency Commons debate on reports of foreign interference in the referendum. Speaker Francis Scarpaleggia turned down the request, saying it did not meet the House’s standing orders “at this time,” the Globe reported. “Parliament should be asking tough questions now not after the ballots are counted,” McPherson said in a statement from her party.
Conservative MP Dane Lloyd, who leads his party’s effort to keep Alberta in Canada, said “absolutely nobody has a right to promise away Alberta’s birthright,” Global News reported. He declined to say whether the activity amounted to foreign interference.
Canada News Media first reported the premier’s response on Oct. 6.
Voting takes place Oct. 19. The question asks whether Alberta should remain in Canada or whether the provincial government should begin the legal process toward a binding referendum on separation. Elections Alberta has projected record turnout, Global News reported.
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Via The Globe and Mail, with additional reporting from Global News, NBC News, Newsweek and The Canadian Press. Polling data from Leger.
