Smith says caucus members can sign any petition they want to, including on separation
By Spencer Van Dyk
Updated: February 01, 2026
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says members of her caucus can sign whatever petitions they want to, including one pushing for a referendum on the province’s independence from Canada.
“I don’t police the responses of my MLAs, they can sign whatever petition that they want,” Smith told CTV Question Period host, Vassy Kapelos in an interview airing Sunday, adding she doesn’t know whether any of her caucus members have signed such a petition.
“But I would say that my approach, and the approach of our caucus as a united caucus, has been to support a sovereign Alberta within united Canada,” Smith added. “That means the federal government respects our areas of jurisdiction, just as we respect their areas of jurisdiction. I think we’re moving in the right direction on that, but not completely.”
READ MORE: ‘Very high level’: Alberta separatist group won’t say which Trump officials it met with
The push for a referendum on Alberta’s separation from Canada appears to be gaining steam, with petition drives being held across the province in recent weeks. Separatists argue Alberta is not, and has not been treated fairly by Ottawa when it comes to natural resource development and equalization, among other issues.
Jeffrey Rath, legal counsel for the Alberta Prosperity Project and one of the people leading the charge on a push for separation, has said Alberta MLAs in Smith’s caucus have signed the petition endorsing the idea of separating from Canada.
Smith told Kapelos she’s conveyed to Prime Minister Mark Carney that a way to “bring the temperature down” would be to recognize that some Liberal policies are very unpopular in some parts of the country compared to others. She cited the federal firearm buyback program as an example.
Last year, Smith’s government passed legislation to reduce the threshold for a petition to trigger a referendum. The legislation both significantly reduces the number of signatures required, and extends the time period for signatures to be collected.
READ MORE: Alberta separatist says members of Smith’s caucus have signed referendum petition
By Spencer Van Dyk
Updated: February 01, 2026
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says members of her caucus can sign whatever petitions they want to, including one pushing for a referendum on the province’s independence from Canada.
“I don’t police the responses of my MLAs, they can sign whatever petition that they want,” Smith told CTV Question Period host, Vassy Kapelos in an interview airing Sunday, adding she doesn’t know whether any of her caucus members have signed such a petition.
“But I would say that my approach, and the approach of our caucus as a united caucus, has been to support a sovereign Alberta within united Canada,” Smith added. “That means the federal government respects our areas of jurisdiction, just as we respect their areas of jurisdiction. I think we’re moving in the right direction on that, but not completely.”
READ MORE: ‘Very high level’: Alberta separatist group won’t say which Trump officials it met with
The push for a referendum on Alberta’s separation from Canada appears to be gaining steam, with petition drives being held across the province in recent weeks. Separatists argue Alberta is not, and has not been treated fairly by Ottawa when it comes to natural resource development and equalization, among other issues.
Jeffrey Rath, legal counsel for the Alberta Prosperity Project and one of the people leading the charge on a push for separation, has said Alberta MLAs in Smith’s caucus have signed the petition endorsing the idea of separating from Canada.
Smith told Kapelos she’s conveyed to Prime Minister Mark Carney that a way to “bring the temperature down” would be to recognize that some Liberal policies are very unpopular in some parts of the country compared to others. She cited the federal firearm buyback program as an example.
Last year, Smith’s government passed legislation to reduce the threshold for a petition to trigger a referendum. The legislation both significantly reduces the number of signatures required, and extends the time period for signatures to be collected.
READ MORE: Alberta separatist says members of Smith’s caucus have signed referendum petition
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith holds a press conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick (Sean Kilpatrick)
In order to move to a referendum on the question, a petition must have just shy of 178,000 signatures by May.
Asked whether she regrets changing the law to make it easier for petition to call for a referendum, given how the situation is unfolding with the push for separation, Smith said: “No.”
She said there are other referenda in the works, on other issues and called the change “a mechanism for citizens to move on issues that the government does not have on their agenda.”
Rath, meanwhile, confirmed to Kapelos — also in an interview on CTV Question Period airing Sunday — that his group has had meetings with U.S. officials over the past year to discuss the possibility of Alberta’s separation from Canada, though he wouldn’t say which members of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration they have spoken with directly.
B.C. Premier David Eby said this week following a meeting of Canada’s premiers that a separatist group meeting with members of a foreign government amounts to “treason.”
Speaking at the same press conference, Smith said she and her caucus are “supportive of a strong and sovereign Alberta within a united Canada.”
But she added she believes Alberta was “relentlessly attacked” by former prime minister Justin Trudeau, and that governments at both the provincial and federal level need to give Albertans “hope” and show them “not just words, but with actions, that Canada can work.”
Asked again whether she believes it’s okay for members of her caucus to sign a separatist petition, regardless of whether she or her MLAs are empathetic with the sentiment that is underpinning the push for independence, Smith said she doesn’t know any MLAs who have signed a petition.
“I don’t know anyone who has signed it, so I don’t know how to answer that,” Smith said.
READ MORE: Danielle Smith steers clear of separatism as she addresses federal Conservatives in Calgary
“As soon as you tell me which caucus members have signed (the petition), we can have a conversation,” she later said. “I just don’t know that any have signed, so we’re talking about a hypothetical situation I don’t even know exists.”
Pressed again on whether her caucus should make it clear that the party wants the province to remain part of Canada, Smith said: “We need to see some action on the part of the part of the federal government.
“I’m sympathetic to the million Albertans who have lost hope that this isn’t a real change of heart on the federal government’s part, that it was a last-minute deathbed conversion to try to avoid losing an election,” Smith said, in reference to Trudeau’s resignation and his replacement with Carney.
She added it’s important to see the federal government following through on its commitments to Alberta, and pointed to the recently signed memorandum of understanding between the two governments outlining the conditions that need to be met for a new oil pipeline to the Pacific to proceed.
With files from CTV News’ Stephanie Ha
In order to move to a referendum on the question, a petition must have just shy of 178,000 signatures by May.
Asked whether she regrets changing the law to make it easier for petition to call for a referendum, given how the situation is unfolding with the push for separation, Smith said: “No.”
She said there are other referenda in the works, on other issues and called the change “a mechanism for citizens to move on issues that the government does not have on their agenda.”
Rath, meanwhile, confirmed to Kapelos — also in an interview on CTV Question Period airing Sunday — that his group has had meetings with U.S. officials over the past year to discuss the possibility of Alberta’s separation from Canada, though he wouldn’t say which members of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration they have spoken with directly.
B.C. Premier David Eby said this week following a meeting of Canada’s premiers that a separatist group meeting with members of a foreign government amounts to “treason.”
Speaking at the same press conference, Smith said she and her caucus are “supportive of a strong and sovereign Alberta within a united Canada.”
But she added she believes Alberta was “relentlessly attacked” by former prime minister Justin Trudeau, and that governments at both the provincial and federal level need to give Albertans “hope” and show them “not just words, but with actions, that Canada can work.”
Asked again whether she believes it’s okay for members of her caucus to sign a separatist petition, regardless of whether she or her MLAs are empathetic with the sentiment that is underpinning the push for independence, Smith said she doesn’t know any MLAs who have signed a petition.
“I don’t know anyone who has signed it, so I don’t know how to answer that,” Smith said.
READ MORE: Danielle Smith steers clear of separatism as she addresses federal Conservatives in Calgary
“As soon as you tell me which caucus members have signed (the petition), we can have a conversation,” she later said. “I just don’t know that any have signed, so we’re talking about a hypothetical situation I don’t even know exists.”
Pressed again on whether her caucus should make it clear that the party wants the province to remain part of Canada, Smith said: “We need to see some action on the part of the part of the federal government.
“I’m sympathetic to the million Albertans who have lost hope that this isn’t a real change of heart on the federal government’s part, that it was a last-minute deathbed conversion to try to avoid losing an election,” Smith said, in reference to Trudeau’s resignation and his replacement with Carney.
She added it’s important to see the federal government following through on its commitments to Alberta, and pointed to the recently signed memorandum of understanding between the two governments outlining the conditions that need to be met for a new oil pipeline to the Pacific to proceed.
With files from CTV News’ Stephanie Ha
Spencer Van Dyk
Writer & Producer, Ottawa News Bureau, CTV News
Writer & Producer, Ottawa News Bureau, CTV News
BC Premier Eby says reported Alberta separatists meeting with U.S. officials amounts to ‘treason’
ByMike Le Couteur
andAbigail Bimman
Published: January 29, 2026 at 9:51AM EST
B.C.’s premier didn’t mince words when asked what he thought about a meeting between Alberta separatists and White House officials.
B.C. Premier David Eby called meetings between members of an Alberta separatist group and officials in the Trump administration “treason” Thursday morning.
Eby says he planned on bringing up the issue at the First Ministers Meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney and other premiers in Ottawa today.
Eby refused to describe the people who had the meeting as Albertans, saying that people from that province “overwhelmingly want to stay in Canada.”
ByMike Le Couteur
andAbigail Bimman
Published: January 29, 2026 at 9:51AM EST
B.C.’s premier didn’t mince words when asked what he thought about a meeting between Alberta separatists and White House officials.
B.C. Premier David Eby called meetings between members of an Alberta separatist group and officials in the Trump administration “treason” Thursday morning.
Eby says he planned on bringing up the issue at the First Ministers Meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney and other premiers in Ottawa today.
Eby refused to describe the people who had the meeting as Albertans, saying that people from that province “overwhelmingly want to stay in Canada.”
B.C. Premier David Eby speaks with reporters before the First Ministers Meeting in Ottawa, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
The B.C. premier said he respects the desire to hold a referendum in Alberta and for people to exercise their right to free speech, but he believes the meeting crosses the line.
“There’s an old-fashioned word for that, and that word is ‘treason,’” said Eby. “It is completely inappropriate to seek to weaken Canada, to seek to go and ask for assistance to break up this country from a foreign power and, with respect, a president who has not been particularly respectful of Canada’s sovereignty.”
Legal counsel for the group Stay Free Alberta, Jeffery Rath, says they met with U.S. officials three times last year, in July, September and December. Rath calls Eby’s comments “ludicrous.”
“We were there on a fact-finding basis, there’s nothing treasonous about it,” Rath told CTV News.
The sovereigntist group confirms it was conducting a feasibility study with Trump officials and other financial institutions about $500 billion in credit facility in the event of a successful referendum on Alberta independence.
“That’s what we’re working on, I mean, to determine whether that that facility would be available on a going-forward-basis,” Rath said. “Whether it’s with U.S. Treasury or Goldman Sachs or JP Morgan through a bond issue, or whatever,” Rath said.
A senior U.S. State Department official wouldn’t confirm any type of request for $500 billion, but told CTV News on background, “The Department regularly meets with civil society types. As is typical in routine meetings such as these, no commitments were made.”
A similar comment from the White House, where another official -- also speaking on background -- said the administration meets with civil society groups and that no commitments were conveyed.
The B.C. premier said he respects the desire to hold a referendum in Alberta and for people to exercise their right to free speech, but he believes the meeting crosses the line.
“There’s an old-fashioned word for that, and that word is ‘treason,’” said Eby. “It is completely inappropriate to seek to weaken Canada, to seek to go and ask for assistance to break up this country from a foreign power and, with respect, a president who has not been particularly respectful of Canada’s sovereignty.”
Legal counsel for the group Stay Free Alberta, Jeffery Rath, says they met with U.S. officials three times last year, in July, September and December. Rath calls Eby’s comments “ludicrous.”
“We were there on a fact-finding basis, there’s nothing treasonous about it,” Rath told CTV News.
The sovereigntist group confirms it was conducting a feasibility study with Trump officials and other financial institutions about $500 billion in credit facility in the event of a successful referendum on Alberta independence.
“That’s what we’re working on, I mean, to determine whether that that facility would be available on a going-forward-basis,” Rath said. “Whether it’s with U.S. Treasury or Goldman Sachs or JP Morgan through a bond issue, or whatever,” Rath said.
A senior U.S. State Department official wouldn’t confirm any type of request for $500 billion, but told CTV News on background, “The Department regularly meets with civil society types. As is typical in routine meetings such as these, no commitments were made.”
A similar comment from the White House, where another official -- also speaking on background -- said the administration meets with civil society groups and that no commitments were conveyed.
Premier of Alberta Danielle Smith arrives for a Council of the Federation meeting with Canadian premiers in Ottawa, on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Eby also called on Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and other premiers to call out the meeting as “unacceptable conduct.”
While reiterating that she supported a “strong and sovereign Alberta within Canada,” Smith did not describe the meetings as treasonous.
“I would expect that the U.S. administration would respect Canadian sovereignty, and that they would confine their discussion about Alberta’s democratic process to Albertans and to Canadians,” Smith told reporters at a news conference with all premiers and the prime minister.
She also noted she’ll raise the issue with her Alberta delegate in Washington, so he can raise it with members of the Trump administration.
That sentiment around sovereignty was echoed by Carney when he was asked to comment on the actions of the separatist group.
“I would expect the U.S. administration to respect Canadian sovereignty. I’m always clear my conversation with President Trump to that effect, and then move on to what we can do together,” said Carney.
Recently, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called Alberta a “natural partner for the U.S.,” adding the western province should be allowed to expand oil shipments through the U.S.
The prime minister would not specifically answer a question as to whether he thought these recent events amounted to foreign interference by the U.S.
Ontario’s Doug Ford described the meeting as “going behind Canada’s back” at a time when he says the country should be sticking together.
“We all know where President Trump stands. He wants Canada, and that’s not going to happen,” Ford told reporters. “I don’t know about treason, it’s unacceptable, it’s unethical.”
“This is an opportunity for Premier Smith to stand up and say enough is enough,” said the premier.
On her radio show earlier this week, Smith pushed back on any notion of Alberta separatists being interested in joining the U.S.
“I would say, when I talk to people (Canadians) who are frustrated with the way we’ve (Albertans) been treated (by Ottawa) for the past 10 years, they don’t say, ‘therefore I want to be an American state.’ That is not what I am hearing.
“They (separatist Albertans) want a new relationship with Canada. And that’s what I’m doing,” she said.
The Alberta independence movement has been collecting signatures, with the goal of initiating a provincial referendum on whether Alberta should separate from Canada.
Eby also called on Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and other premiers to call out the meeting as “unacceptable conduct.”
While reiterating that she supported a “strong and sovereign Alberta within Canada,” Smith did not describe the meetings as treasonous.
“I would expect that the U.S. administration would respect Canadian sovereignty, and that they would confine their discussion about Alberta’s democratic process to Albertans and to Canadians,” Smith told reporters at a news conference with all premiers and the prime minister.
She also noted she’ll raise the issue with her Alberta delegate in Washington, so he can raise it with members of the Trump administration.
That sentiment around sovereignty was echoed by Carney when he was asked to comment on the actions of the separatist group.
“I would expect the U.S. administration to respect Canadian sovereignty. I’m always clear my conversation with President Trump to that effect, and then move on to what we can do together,” said Carney.
Recently, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called Alberta a “natural partner for the U.S.,” adding the western province should be allowed to expand oil shipments through the U.S.
The prime minister would not specifically answer a question as to whether he thought these recent events amounted to foreign interference by the U.S.
Ontario’s Doug Ford described the meeting as “going behind Canada’s back” at a time when he says the country should be sticking together.
“We all know where President Trump stands. He wants Canada, and that’s not going to happen,” Ford told reporters. “I don’t know about treason, it’s unacceptable, it’s unethical.”
“This is an opportunity for Premier Smith to stand up and say enough is enough,” said the premier.
On her radio show earlier this week, Smith pushed back on any notion of Alberta separatists being interested in joining the U.S.
“I would say, when I talk to people (Canadians) who are frustrated with the way we’ve (Albertans) been treated (by Ottawa) for the past 10 years, they don’t say, ‘therefore I want to be an American state.’ That is not what I am hearing.
“They (separatist Albertans) want a new relationship with Canada. And that’s what I’m doing,” she said.
The Alberta independence movement has been collecting signatures, with the goal of initiating a provincial referendum on whether Alberta should separate from Canada.
New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt speaks with reporters before the First Ministers Meeting in Ottawa, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
While supporting the right of people to express themselves in a free and democratic country, New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt believes Albertans will choose to stay in Canada.
“I think you’re talking about a minority of people who are agitating, and I am very optimistic that the majority of Albertans will demonstrate their love for this country and their desire to be a part of it and whatever comes next.”
In a more light-hearted moment, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew noted that all of the referendum talk makes him want to hold one in his province. “Except in Manitoba, the question is going to be; do you want to stay a part of Canada? And the two choices are going to be ‘yeah’ and ‘Heck yeah!’”
With files from CTV News Calgary’s Stephen Hunt and CTV Calgary’s Tyler Barrow
While supporting the right of people to express themselves in a free and democratic country, New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt believes Albertans will choose to stay in Canada.
“I think you’re talking about a minority of people who are agitating, and I am very optimistic that the majority of Albertans will demonstrate their love for this country and their desire to be a part of it and whatever comes next.”
In a more light-hearted moment, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew noted that all of the referendum talk makes him want to hold one in his province. “Except in Manitoba, the question is going to be; do you want to stay a part of Canada? And the two choices are going to be ‘yeah’ and ‘Heck yeah!’”
With files from CTV News Calgary’s Stephen Hunt and CTV Calgary’s Tyler Barrow
Senior Political Correspondent, CTV National News
Abigail Bimman
Correspondent, CTV National News
Abigail Bimman
Correspondent, CTV National News
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