Alberta

• Alberta is preparing for a symbolic referendum on separation from Canada, though the movement faces severe legal, economic, and political hurdles. • The push for independence is complicated by internal divisions within the Conservative Party and the influence of online content-creation farms. • Current polling suggests the province is unlikely to secede, as the logistical complexities of separation make the prospect nearly impossible.

Judge rules initiative to force binding vote on secession invalid as Alberta premier calls for referendum on matterThe Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, has said that Alberta is “essential” to the country’s future, hours after the province’s leader moved the oil-rich region closer toward a referendum on independence.Separatists in the western province spent months collecting signatures seeking to trigger a binding October vote on seceding from the nation. Continue reading...

Debates over secession overshadowed by revelations separatist-linked group gained access to list of electorsThe illegal use of voter information by rightwing separatists in the province of Alberta has raised fresh fears over Canada’s electoral integrity by making valuable and “incredibly confidential” personal data easily accessible to malicious actors, security experts have warned.The data breach, one of the largest in Canadian history, has prompted warnings of a “truly terrifying” new battleground over information, persuasion and foreign interference in already weakened democratic systems. Continue reading...

Authorities investigate leak of 2.9 million voters’ details, adding to turmoil around independence pushAlberta separatists have delivered more than 300,000 signatures to elections officials in western Canada, in support of their attempt to force an independence referendum in Canada’s oil-rich province.But the effort stumbled immediately as a separatist-linked group posted the personal data of nearly three million residents online in one of the largest data breaches in Canadian history, fomenting fears of a possible political interference crisis. Continue reading...

Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation has asked a court to halt the separatist push, arguing it would violate their treaty rightsA First Nation in Alberta has said that a separatist push for the province to secede from Canada is “consummately irresponsible and dishonourable” and should be shut down, arguing in court that a proposed referendum would violate their treaty rights.A minority of residents of the oil-rich province have long argued that the province’s woes are due to the structure of payments to the federal government and a perceived inability to get their vast fossil fuel reserves to market. Continue reading...

Joey Pete of Sunchild First Nation said king seemed ‘committed to learning’ after meeting Indigenous leadersKing Charles has expressed concern over a simmering separatist movement in western Canada, according to Indigenous leaders who met the head of state at Buckingham Palace.Members of the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations travelled to London from their territories in the province of Alberta to raise the alarm over the secessionist movement, arguing that it ignores key agreements signed between First Nations and the crown nearly 150 years ago. Continue reading...