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.” Blackett added, “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 they 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. “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.” Jeffrey Rath with the Alberta Prosperity Project tells CTV News he, along with others including Dennis Modry, met with US officials three times in 2025, including in April, September and December. “We went to Washington and we were invited to Washington to discuss the aspirations of hundreds of thousands of Albertans for a free and independent Alberta,” said Rath. “The Americans were very enthusiastic about meeting with us. They were very supportive. They were much more supportive of meeting with us than anybody in Ottawa would be.” The Globe and Mail reported that Modry told them a document was provided at those Washington meetings that allegedly included fresh water, oil royalties and land for a railway connection to Alaska. “There was never a negotiation. There was never a tradeoff of if you do this, we’ll give you that,” said Rath. “The people we were meeting within the State Department aren’t stupid. If we went there, into those meetings, pretending to have the negotiation power or the ability to offer anything to them, they would have looked at us like we were morons.” The Globe and Mail also reported over the weekend that Republican political operatives were in Alberta earlier this year to help the separatist cause. Rath says he did not attend that meeting. The Globe and Mail reported that advocate of the independence movement David Parker brokered the meeting with Michigan Republican strategists who offered him voter-targeting software called 10x. It was later used by Parker’s Centurion project, which Elections Alberta alleges had unlawfully obtained a copy of Alberta’s voter list, illegally, that contained three million names. Asked if he would support an exchange of oil and water, 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.” Former premier Jason Kenney says he was not surprised by the Globe and Mail’s story. “A bunch of these separatist leaders have said from Day 1 that they see separation as the first step toward becoming part of the United States. They’re now trying to backpedal on that and cover it up,” said Kenney. “Ninety per cent of Albertans do not want to become part of the United States, and they need to realize that if they vote to separate, that’s probably where we’re headed.” Political scientist Jean-Christophe Boucher at the University of Calgary says the meetings don’t necessarily constitute foreign interference, but they are close. “This is going above and beyond what would be normal, from Canadian citizens to participate in democratic processes and seeking external help,” he said. “If somebody from Alberta went to Moscow and had the same kind of meeting and came back to Alberta, we would probably arrest them and probably have a lot of questions on where they’re going with this.” Referendum day is Oct 19. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 5, 2026. — By Jack Farrell — With files from Alessia Passafiume in Ottawa and Timon Johnson in Edmonton — With files from CTV Calgary’s Tyson Fedor
