Carney arrives in Alberta for final push before Oct. 19 referendum vote

Prime Minister Mark Carney is expected to be in Alberta this week as the province heads toward an Oct. 19 referendum that will ask whether to separate from Canada. The referendum outcome will not automatically trigger separation; it is the first step in gauging whether a binding referendum on leaving Canada would be held.

The federal government's recent designation of the Pacific Link oil pipeline as the first major project of national interest is being framed by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith as "demonstrating that co-operative federalism can work in action." However, Angela Tabak, co-founder of the Alberta Women's Independence Network, questioned the timing. "Those announcements could have been made months ago, but they weren't," Tabak told Rosemary Barton Live, an interview airing Sunday. "The political games that get played on the Canadian people, Albertans are not that stupid. We see through it. Our voices and our opinions, our way of life, our economies do not count as much when it comes to the federal government making certain decisions as other areas of the country."

Carney has said the federal government is tracking allegations of foreign interference in the referendum. Canada's foreign influence commissioner notified more than 60 groups and individuals involved with Alberta referendum campaigns about legal obligations to report foreign influence. The Globe and Mail reported Oct. 3 that as recently as April, some campaigning for Alberta independence met on both sides of the border with U.S. entities. Pro-separatist organizers discussed offering U.S. operatives greater access to Alberta's oil and freshwater resources in exchange for supporting the province's independence.

Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc downplayed the intensity of foreign interference. "I don't think it's more intense than we would have expected. We have for some time been aware of different foreign actors that seek to interfere in democratic processes in Canada. It's not new," LeBlanc told Rosemary Barton. When asked about the U.S. meetings, he said: "We'll let those people explain to Albertans why they thought it was useful to take some trip to Washington and meet some people in a foreign administration to hold out some kind of commitments that they may or may not ever be able to deliver."

Elon Musk, Tesla and SpaceX CEO, waded into the separatism debate last week, though his specific statements were not detailed in available reporting.